Angels of Cruxis
by Rena Chan
Summary: Story has been discontinued. New re-written story with same general plot will be called "Dirge of Symphonia"
1. Time, Heart, Sekundes and Verius

**Angels of Cruxis**

Written by Rena Chan

Finished on 11/11/2004

* * *

**Chapter 1 - Time, Heart, Sekundes and Verius**

_We are the last of the Angels of Cruxis, spending which most likely would be eternity on Derris-Kharlan, floating around in space. "If a half-elf of Cruxis remains here, then the discrimination against half-elves will never disappear." is what he said. I'm here on Derris-Kharlan not because I agree with him on that, but rather, because he is my friend. The only close friend I have left. Besides, there is nothing left for me to do on the surface. The two worlds have been reunited, and the Giant Tree is probably growing well. From this time of writing, it would take the Giant Yggdrasill Tree five more years before it would be fully grown and provide infinite mana to the land. And when the time comes, I hope that a war won't start again. It is because of this and the birth of magitechnology that the Ancient Kharlan War began in the first place. The war between the countries of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla, and the discrimination against the half-elves. _

I must say, I must praise the kid, for thinking of such a name for the Giant Tree. Yggdrasill...I guess he named it that as a tribute to Mithos and Martel Yggdrasill, and also as a symbol of a world without discrimination. Mithos...We were unable to stop him from dropping into the depths of despair. But...at least he's been put to rest now, probably together with his sister Martel, also my love, the light of my life, in their world.

Yes...It's been five years since the two worlds have been reunited. They have been separated for too long. 4000 years...is no joke. I hope that by now, there would be less discrimination against the half-elves. I know it's impossible for the everyone to accept the half-elves in such a short time, but if I ever get the chance, that is a big **if**, I would love to see what has become of this discrimination.

"Yuan, you're writing in that 'thing' again?"

Yuan looked up from what he was doing, brushing a lock of his blue hair back to his right. "For your information, this is _not_ a 'thing'. It's a diary," Yuan countered as he turned to look at his companion.

_"Are you so bored with nothing to do that you have to count time?"_ His companion muttered in the angelic language.

"My. If you're using the angelic language to say something like that, it must mean that you're really cranky today, Kratos," Yuan replied, drumming his fingers on his table lazily.

"It's that dream again," Kratos said as he walked over to Yuan and sat down, sighing.

"That same dream you have been having for the past few days?" The blue-haired half-elf replied as he closed his diary and turned to face Kratos. "The one which shows you that the Giant Tree is dying for some unknown reason?"

"_Yes._ That dream," Kratos replied. "I'm worried...When someone repeatedly has the same dream, it usually means that it will come true. _I don't want that to happen._"

"I know, but you don't have to speak in both common and the angelic language," Yuan said, slightly irritated with the mixture of languages used in the previous sentences by the swordsman.

"I'm sorry," Kratos apologized, taking a quick glance at the empty space, and back at Yuan again. "It's just that I'm worried...and frustrated at this. It kinda makes me not want to sleep anymore."

"Then, don't sleep," Yuan muttered without thinking.

"Yuan!"

"Whoa, no need to go all bent out of shape because of this," Yuan cried, waving his hands in-front of his face. "Besides, there is nothing you can do about it. We can't leave Derris-Kharlan, at least not without the power to transcend space. Besides, if something is happening to the Giant Tree, Lloyd will fix it, right? He promised Mana that he won't let the tree wither away."

"But...why am I the one having the dream instead of him?"

"That's..." Yuan started, scratching his head thoughtfully. "I'm sure Lloyd will fix it. No faith in your own son?"

"No...I have total faith in Lloyd..." Kratos replied. "It's just, there might be something that only I can do. I didn't go and betray Lloyd and everyone else and secretly gathered the materials for the Eternal Ring for nothing. I just...wanted to reunite the two worlds. And after all that I have done, I don't want the world to die because the Giant Tree withered away."

"You should have just stayed on Symphonia. I wonder why Lloyd didn't stop you from leaving with Derris-Kharlan?" Yuan commented thoughtfully.

"Because he is a bit dense and clueless about these kind of things."

"He probably inherited it from you."

_"He did not!"_

"Yes he did!" Yuan retorted.

"...You're just trying to cheer me up...right?"

"Whatever you want to interpret it as," Yuan replied, as he turned back to his table.

"Thanks...but I'm still worried."

"Why don't you go and find out for yourself, the meaning of your dream?"

"Who's that?" Both Cruxis angels yelled out as they turned to face the owner of the new voice. The newcomer was floating above them. He was dressed from head to toe in dark gray clothing and had long silver hair tied up in a loose ponytail. He also wore an gold colored armlet on each of his wrists, silver leg guards on both of his legs, a silver colored neck guard and a brown belt on his waist.

"That mana signature...you're a Summon Spirit?" Yuan asked, visibly shocked. "What's a Summon Spirit doing down here? And I've never seen you before!"

"Of course not, but he has," The Summon Spirit pointed to the other Cruxis angel.

Yuan turned to look at Kratos. "You know this Summon Spirit?" Then the half-elf noticed that Kratos was clenching both of his fists tightly. Very tightly. It was almost like he was trembling.

Kratos finally turned to face the Summon Spirit. "Sekundes...what do you want? Did you come to mock me? To mock me of trying to form a pact with you and failed, especially when no other summoner has succeeded before?"

Yuan almost forgot that Kratos had the ability to summon. It has, afterall, been over 4000 years since he saw Kratos summon, before, due to persistent begging from Mithos, he taught Mithos how to summon, and relinquished his pacts with the Summon Spirits which he already had pacts with, just to let Mithos form a pact with them.

"Oh, don't get me wrong, Kratos," Sekundes replied and teleported in-front of the swordsman. "Don't you want some closure on your dream?"

"I'm not sure..."

"Oh, don't be like that," Sekundes growled, waving his hand in-front of the angel's face. "And do you still have that armlet I gave you 4000 years ago when you lost the battle against me?"

Mentally grumbling to himself, Kratos fumbled around in his pouch and produced a golden colored armlet which seems to have an empty hole in which to put something in. "Here it is. You want to take to back or something?"

"Not really," Sekundes replied as he touched the armlet. It disappeared and reappeared on Kratos' right wrist.

"Hey! I swore never to put this on!" Kratos growled at the Summon Spirit. "This is...a constant reminder of my failure against you..." The seraph tried to take it off but to no avail. "What in the name of the Giant Tree...?"

"It's stuck on you, whether you like it or not," Sekundes smiled. "I've imbued it with the power to transcend space, so you can use it to travel back and forth Derris-Kharlan and Symphonia. Whether you decide to go or not, it's your decision to make," Sekundes continued as he turned away from Kratos. "However, if you decide to go, seek Verius. He's the one that will be telling you the details."

"Why are you doing this?" Kratos questioned as he gave up on trying to remove the armlet on his right wrist.

"Let's just say...that I've taken a liking to you, ever since the first time I saw you, 1000 years after the Ancient Kharlan War started and Verius' power disappeared. It had been too long since someone tried to make a pact with me when that happened," Sekundes turned around, smiled, and shook a finger in-front of the swordsman. "You actually had the guts to challenge me when the sole power that could beat me had disappeared. And I admire you for that. Also, at that time, I saw the future..."

"The future? What did you see?"

"Ah, that's a secret. I cannot tell you what I saw. Or time could be messed up. And Kratos, don't consider your failure to pact with me a failure in itself. You simply didn't have the power to beat me at that time." And with that, the Summon Spirit teleported away.

"Didn't have the power to beat him at that time..." Kratos sighed, with his head hanging. "Is he trying to mock me?"

"You still haven't answered my question," Yuan finally spoke after Sekundes teleported away.

"He's...the only Summon Spirit that I tried and failed to make a pact with," Kratos replied, muttering his response, lifting his head up after a few seconds. "The most powerful of the Summon Spirits, the Summon Spirit of Time. He possesses the power to transcend time and space."

"Whoa! Hold on a second!" Yuan replied, surprised. "The power to transcend time and space? Then the Eternal Sword?"

"The power of the Eternal Sword comes from him," Kratos explained, sighing. "Origin merely forges the sword and gives the right to use it, but its power was imbued by Sekundes himself. I wonder how much trouble Origin had went through just to get Sekundes to give power to the Eternal Sword..."

"You mean you could have just form a pact with that guy and be able to reunite the two worlds?"

"I did think of trying that once," Kratos said, turning away from Yuan. "But then, after more research, its power to alter the world, is related to Origin himself. So even if I had a pact with Sekundes, I still would lack the means to reunite the two worlds."

"For how long have you known that the Eternal Sword's power to transcend time and space comes from the Summon Spirit of Time?"

"Ever since the Eternal Sword displayed its ability to transcend space," Kratos replied, without turning back to look at Yuan.

"I've got a hand it to you," Yuan commented, shrugging his shoulders. "You actually know more than what I credit you for. So, decided to go back to Symphonia?"

"I'm going to go. You can stay here if you want," Kratos replied as he started to make his way over to the warp which used to lead to the Tower of Salvation at Welgaia.

"Hey! I never said that I'm not going!" Yuan cried, flustered. "Besides, you'll be lonely without me."

_"It's more like you'll be lonely here without me on Derris-Kharlan,"_ Kratos muttered in the angelic language as he continued on his way to his destination.

"Hey! I heard that!" Yuan cried as he ran to catch up with his human friend.

OoOoOoO

"Sword Rain: Alpha!"

_"Whine bite bite"_

"Not bad, Noishe! You can do it! Overcome your sensitivity to monsters!"

_"Grrr Roar"_

The monster the duo was fighting finally fell. "Good job Noishe!"

_"Howl"_

Ever since Noishe had protected Lloyd from his mother turned monster, he had been sensitive to monsters and ran away at the sight of them. Lloyd was trying to teach Noishe to stop being so scared of monsters, and there had been signs of progress.

The boy of about 22 years of age sheathed his swords, walked over to his pet and friend, and patted him on the head. The swordsman wore his usual red clothing with gray pants, except that it's modified to fit him if he grew any larger. Then he turned to look towards the direction and location of the sun.

"Holy cow! I'm going to be late!" Lloyd cried as he realised how late into the morning it was already. "Noishe, looks like you're gonna have to take me the rest of the way to Mizuho."

_"Howl"_ The arshis said in reply. And the current wielder of the Eternal Sword got on.

"Avoid all the monsters, okay, Noishe?"

_"Howl" _Was his reply. And Noishe ran as quickly as he can towards the new location of the hidden ninja village, Mizuho.

OoOoOoO

Circular rings of green energy appeared near the Holy Ground, where the Giant Tree now grows. They slowly cleared to reveal two people. A human and a half-elf. In this age, it's rare to see humans and half-elves together, as friends. And yet, they were friends. Since 4000 years ago.

"Wow! We're really back on Symphonia!" Yuan exclaimed, as he turned to look around his surroundings. He surveyed every grass, every tree, every rock, everything, to confirm that he really was back on Symphonia.

"Yuan, you're acting like as if you're seeing this place for the first time," Kratos muttered, putting his right hand on his forehead. "We're not here on a holiday."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Yuan replied, crossing his arms on his chest and turned to face Kratos. "But how are we going to find this...Verius? Come to think of it, who is this Verius anyway?"

"The Summon Spirit of Heart. His power was lost when the Kharlan War started," Kratos explained. "And his power was recently revived thanks to artificial Summon Spirit Corrine and Summoner Sheena."

"Oh. But I guess I kinda understand why that guy's power was lost," Yuan said, nodding in understanding. Then he noticed the Giant Tree behind the blue-winged seraph. "The Giant Tree is behind you."

Kratos turned around. "And so it seems. Come on. Let's go."

The seraphim duo approached the Giant Yggdrasill Tree quickly and swiftly. Once there, the both of them examined the Giant Tree from trunk to root. They even tried to feel the mana flow to and from the Giant Tree.

"Do you sense anything wrong?" Yuan asked Kratos after five minutes of examining the tree.

"You're the half-elf. You're supposed to be able to tell more easily than I can," The swordsman muttered his reply.

"Hey! You're the summoner! Aren't the powers of the summoners closer to that of nature?" Yuan argued.

"The knowledge of magic transfusion, the ability to sense the mana signature and mana flow are all gifts from the Summon Spirits," Kratos replied.

"Taking pity on the powerless humans?" Yuan mused.

"I've always thought of it as that way. It would make sense why only those with human blood can form pacts with Summon Spirits and have the ability to summon."

"And I thought you were going to get mad," Yuan laughed.

"Wha? Were you thinking of inferior beings?"

"No! Besides, we're both angels, neither of us are inferior to each other," Yuan replied quickly.

"Huh? That still isn't entirely right either you know..." Kratos muttered but waved that conversation away. "Anyway, I can't sense anything irregular with the mana flow."

"Well, me neither. So...that means there's nothing wrong with the tree." Yuan concluded, crossing his arms.

"That's not entirely correct. You are just unable to sense it yet."

Both angels immediately turned around to face the owner of the new voice, Kratos with his hand at the hilt of his sword while Yuan was already charging a spell. And they came face to face with a large fox with nine tails. It was yellow-brown in color, and it has four green and five blue tails. It had blue colored paws and was wearing a bell on its neck.

"Verius!" Kratos exclaimed as he recognised the kyubi standing before them. He eased himself and Yuan stopped charging his spell.

"So you've decided to come, High Summoner Kratos Aurion. Just as Sekundes predicted," Verius replied.

"Just as...Sekundes predicted?" Kratos repeated. "And how did you know that I was a high summoner?"

"Sekundes was the one who told me," Verius replied.

OoOoOoO

_"What is this...? This increased mana flow, and this taintedness...It's faint and not too much of a concern right now...but..." _

"Is something happening to the Giant Tree's mana flow?"

The long, green haired figure stood up suddenly. There were two branches of leaves sticking out on each side of her hair and she is carrying a staff, and quickly held it closely to herself in a defensive stance.

"Who's there?" She spoke, ready to defend herself. She had thought that there would never be a need to raise her staff against another, since no ordinary being can enter this space. Perhaps, this was no ordinary being.

"Fret not, Spirit of the Giant Tree, Mana," The other voice replied. "I mean you no harm. I am the Summon Spirit of Heart, speaking to you with my power. I am the only being that could possibly talk to you in this space, for I can see the true heart and feelings of all that is living. You can tell me what you see."

"Something is happening to the Giant Tree. Someone is trying to taint the mana flow," Mana explained, lowering her staff. "It's not life threatening right now, but if it continues, the Giant Tree will die and be lost forever."

"Can't a new seed be created?"

"Unfortunately, no. The Giant Tree can only have a seed when it's fully grown, and that won't happen for about another five years. By then, it would be too late..."

"If the Giant Tree dies, the world itself would end as well."

"Please, we have to prevent this from happening. As I am a spirit of this tree, I am bound to it and have no external contact with the outside world. We cannot let the tree die...please...find the one who gave this new tree its name. Find the one with the pact to this tree, the Eternal Swordsman."

"I will see what I can do."

Verius blinked and looked up into the sky, and turned to stare at the visage of the Giant Yggdrasill Tree. "Find the Eternal Swordsman..."

"And how do you plan on sending him the message?"

Verius yelped from the sudden intrusion on his thoughts. He turned to look at who had spoken.

"Sekundes..."

"It's been 5000 years since I last saw you. When the Kharlan War started, the hearts of people wavered and your power disappeared. To tell you the truth, I was worried that your power will never be reawakened again."

"Thankfully, it did..."

"You're still as grand as ever. And you've got a new bell on your neck."

"This is...a momento of the Summon Spirit that died and was reborn...as me, the reawakening of my power."

"That artificial Summon Spirit. I must say it was a good piece of work," Sekundes replied. "But, getting back to the topic, how do you plan on sending the Eternal Swordsman the message?"

"How did you even know what's going on?" Verius asked suspiciously.

"I am the Summon Spirit of Time. I have the power to transcend space. There is no space that I cannot enter."

"Pardon me, I shouldn't have questioned you, the most powerful of the Summon Spirits."

"I may be the most powerful, but you have the potential to be even stronger than me," Sekundes replied, turning away from the kyubi.

"My power...depends on the summoner."

"But you didn't want to form a pact. So how can you be strong?"

"I have yet to find a summoner's heart...that is worthy. And...I'm afraid that it will happen again."

"Tch. Excuses. And we're straying from the topic again," Sekundes pointed out.

"I'm sorry. I intend to send the message through a recurring dream, until I have spoken to the one which I sent the dream to."

"That's a sleek way to send a message," Sekundes muttered.

"Do you have a better idea? Finding the person directly involves more time. It's faster to directly connect to the heart of the target."

"Alright, fine. If you must send the message in the form of a dream, don't send it to the Eternal Swordsman, Lloyd Irving. Send it to the one called Kratos Aurion, biological father of the Eternal Swordsman."

"Why? Are you sure about this? From as far as I know, he's on Derris-Kharlan, which is floating around Symphonia in space, no way for people to go or return without the power of the Eternal Sword!"

"I can fix that, don't worry about it. Details," Sekundes muttered, waving his hand in-front of his face.

"But I still don't understand why! Even if you can fix the space problem, will he even come?"

"Oh, he will come. He will never abandon the world. Also, we...we are going to need his power...his power as a high summoner."

OoOoOoO

"Just what is Sekundes trying to do?" Kratos questioned. "He's always, _always_ like this!"

"I blame it on his power, to be able to transcend time and see the future," Verius mused.

"But, to be able to see the future...it must be quite painful for him, isn't it?" Yuan said thoughtfully. "Knowing what is going to happen and yet not being able to do anything..."

"Perhaps," Kratos muttered as he crossed his arms and closed his eyes, thinking. "To be able to see the future...he said something about having saw the future during my battle with him 4000 years ago, back on Derris-Kharlan. Could that have anything to do with this?"

"Perhaps. But the thing that he said before leaving," Verius added, swinging his tails to the left. "About we needing your power as a high summoner... concerns me."

"I am the last of the true summoners, the last of the high summoners...but what does this have to do with me?"

"Hey, Kratos," Yuan intervened on the conversation. "Since you're a high summoner, maybe it has to do with something that only you can do, that is related to the Summon Spirits? Come to think of it, what is the difference between a normal summoner from a high summoner? From the way I've seen you summon, it doesn't seem any different from how Mithos summoned."

"Although anyone with human blood can be trained to have the right of the pact, only the true summoners, pure blooded summoners born of the Summoner Clan, can understand the true nature of the Summon Spirits," Kratos explained, shifting his gaze to the sky and back again. "This understanding of the Summon Spirits...allows them to call upon the true power of the Summon Spirits. That is the difference. You couldn't see the difference cause I didn't high summon when I was travelling with you guys during the Ancient War, before Mithos decided that he wanted to learn how to summon himself..."

"To be able to call upon the true power of the Summon Spirits...huh?"

"It is also due to this understanding that only high summoners can summon and control the tremendous power which Sekundes has," Verius added. "That's why, Sekundes only appears before high summoners."

"Well, it didn't seem to answer any questions we have," Yuan muttered, raising both of his arms into the sky and put them down again.

"Sekundes annoys the heck out of me anyway," Kratos growled in annoyance. "The question is, what should we do now? We don't know who's behind this. The only thing we know is that someone is tainting the mana flow which will kill the Giant Tree if this continues. And since it isn't fully grown yet, there won't be a new seed. So we need to find out what's causing this and reverse it before it's too late."

"I can only offer one suggestion right now," Verius offered. "Since Sekundes asked me to send the message to you instead of the Eternal Swordsman, and about needing your power as a high summoner, why not find the other Summon Spirits and form a pact with them? And at the same time, you might be able to find out what's going on and who's behind all this."

Kratos uncrossed his arms and turned to look at Verius. "It seems like this is the only thing we can do now. We can't stop something when we don't even know what we're dealing with in the first place. But to find the Summon Spirits now...It would be hard..."

"Hard?" Yuan questioned. "How come?"

"Yuan, have you forgotten? Summon Spirits are wandering creatures. With the exception of Origin and Maxwell, they are hard to locate. And now that they don't act as seals any longer, they are not bonded to anything and can wander freely as they please."

"Uh oh. I've forgotten that little detail," Yuan replied, rubbing the back of his head. "So, how are we supposed to find them?"

"We have to find the place where there is the greatest concentration of that particular mana," Kratos replied, crossing his arms once again. "That's where the Summon Spirit is. And once we locate it, we have to act quickly before the Summon Spirit moves, otherwise we have to locate it again."

"That sounds hard," Yuan replied. "Really...hard."

"Not really. They don't move as quickly as you think. Summon Spirits would stay at the same place for a few days or even months, before they move. The only bad thing is, you may have to search the same place again."

"Ooo...okay," Yuan commented, and decided to cross his arms also. "But what about the previous pact-maker? That ninja girl... What's her name?"

"Sheena."

"Yeah...Sheena. I thought she hasn't broken her vow, and neither has she passed on," Yuan continued. "Summon Spirits can't form another pact if the previous one is still valid."

"I'm amazed you remember that," Kratos replied. "But you don't need to worry about that."

"Huh? You mean you can form a pact even when a Summon Spirit already has a pact with another summoner?" Yuan asked, surprised. "Is it this thing about you being a high summoner?"

"No," Verius interjected. "It has nothing to do with that. Be it a summoner or a high summoner, as long as the pact-maker is still alive and hasn't broken their vow, the pact remains valid. It doesn't matter whether a summoner is of a higher class than another."

"Then, how is Kratos supposed to form a pact with the other Summon Spirits?" Yuan replied, slightly frustrated. "I don't get it!"

"There is one last condition that can happen to make a pact with a Summon Spirit to be no longer valid," Kratos replied. "It's not commonly known, as it has never been done before. This condition is only known to the summoners of the Summoner Clan. And that condition is, 'A pact can also no longer be valid if the pact-maker has fulfilled their vow'."

"Exactly," Verius replied. "That's exactly what happened with Sheena. She has fulfilled her vow and no longer holds a pact with the Summon Spirits. Which means the Summon Spirits are not bounded by any pact at this moment and another summoner can form a pact with them as they wish."

"This is all too complicating for me..." Yuan grumbled.

"And magitechnology is never too complicated for you."

"Those are entirely different things!" Yuan retorted, pointing an accusing finger at Kratos. "You're the expert on Summon Spirits! Besides, you're not too shabby with magitechnology yourself."

"I don't think this is a good time to be throwing random remarks at each other," Kratos replied and turned to walk away. "The faster we find the Summon Spirits, and the sooner we find out what's going on, the better."

"Hey! You're changing the subject!"

"I'm _not_ changing the subject," Kratos countered.

"Yes you are!"

"Shut up, Yuan," Kratos muttered as he continued walking away.

"Hey! Wait for me!" The half-elf cried out as he ran to catch up with Kratos.

_"Just what did you see in the future, Sekundes? Why do we need his power as a high summoner?"_ Verius mused as he watched the two angels walk away. _"I'm a Summon Spirit too. If the powers of the Summon Spirits are needed for whoever is doing this, does that mean your power is needed too, Sekundes? If your power is needed, then my power is also needed. But the first and also the last summoner I made a pact with died...because he defeated you...would...would the same thing happen again?"_

Verius continued watching the two retreating Cruxis angels, still unable to come to a decision. A decision on something very important. But this time it was different. If there was anything Verius knew about Sekundes, it was that the Summon Spirit of Time will never let something that has happened before, happen again. He would make sure of that. _"It looks like the only thing I can do now is to trust Sekundes. Alright. Here goes. I better do this before they're out of earshot."_

But it was hard for both Kratos and Yuan to be out of earshot so easily. They were, afterall, angels, and possessed heightened hearing.

"Kratos, wait!"

Both seraphim stopped when they heard Verius call out Kratos' name. The Summon Spirit of Heart quickly dashed closer to where they were, and stopped in-front of them.

"What's wrong? Do you have something else you need to tell us?" Kratos questioned as he crossed his arms once more.

"Kratos...I wish...to form a pact with you."

"Whoa! You want to form a pact with him? Are you serious?" Yuan joked, thrusting his arms into the air and put them down again.

"Shut up, Yuan," Kratos muttered for the second time today. "But Verius, why now? I thought you do not want to be bonded to anyone."

"That's because...I don't want what happened to the previous pact-maker to happen to other summoners. That's why I do not wish to be bonded to anyone. But...if Sekundes says that your power as a high summoner is needed, then it must mean that the power of all the Summon Spirits is needed. That's why..."

"A Summon Spirit that feels fear..."

"It's because I am the Summon Spirit of Heart that I feel these kind of emotions..."

Kratos uncrossed his arms and readied his hand at the hilt of his sword. "Very well then. I suppose the usual procedures apply?"

"Of course. Although I'm the one who wishes to form a pact with the summoner, it does not mean that I will not be testing them. I won't make any exceptions because of this."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Yuan asked.

"It means we're going to fight," Kratos replied as he drew the Last Fencer.

"Get ready!" Verius cried has he lowered himself, ready to pounce.

OoOoOoO

_"Sheena, after much research, we finally found out why the pacts you have with the Summon Spirits are no longer valid." _

"We spent a long time looking for this piece of information. And in the end, we could only find it at the ruins of where the Summoner Clan, the home of the true summoners, is."

"So? What is the reason my pacts with the Summon Spirits are no longer valid!" Sheena cried.

"It's because you have fulfilled your vow."

"Fulfilled my vow, huh?" Sheena sat, muttering to herself. "Must have been quite an accomplishment..." About two years after the worlds have been reunited, Sheena had realised that she no longer had the power of the Summon Spirits. She noticed this when the ninja could no longer find the gems, which are the proof of the pact with the Summon Spirits, with her.

A ninja wearing blue ninja clothes walked into the Sheena's room and saluted her. "Chief! Your friends are here."

"Thanks Orochi," Sheena replied and stood up. "Who cares about the Summon Spirits anyway! I was...shunned because I have the ability to summon...it's better now that I no longer have the power of the Summon Spirits..."

The Chief of Mizuho quickly put her thoughts aside and walked out to meet her friends. The first people she saw were two silver haired people. They were talking about something. And it seemed to be of some importance.

"Raine! Genis!" Sheena called out, and gave the two siblings a wave.

"Hey! Sheena! It has been quite some time already, hasn't it?" Genis called back and returned the wave.

The two half-elves made their way over to the Shinobi.

"You look more matured, Sheena," Raine commented as she shook her hand.

"Yeah...A lot has happened these past five years," Sheena replied. "And everyone says that I make a good Chief! But you don't look any different from five years ago, compared to now."

"That's because we start to age slower when we hit twenty!" Genis said, smiling.

"And you've grown more handsome!" Sheena replied, returning the smile.

"Yes. And a lot of girls are starting to notice him now," Raine teased.

"Raine!"

"But it's true!" Raine countered. "Don't you think so too, Sheena?"

"Yeah! You definitely look more handsome now, Genis!"

"Hey! Sheena!" Another voice called out. All three of them turned to look at the owner of the voice. But they already knew who it was.

"Colette! And Regal and Presea too!" Sheena and the two half-elf siblings walked over to greet the rest of their friends. "You all look so different!"

"That's because we've aged," Presea replied in her usual monotonous tone of voice.

"I look older too!" Colette said happily. "My Cruxis Crystal didn't suppress my aging process!"

Sheena's eyes narrowed. "Is that supposed to be something to be happy about?"

"Uhh...haha...I guess not," The former Chosen of Sylvarant laughed nervously, scratching the back of her head.

"So, Lloyd isn't here yet," Regal commented as he gripped his right wrist and turned it around in his left hand. He had removed the handcuffs on his hands when the world was reunited, and he started a new goal for the Lezareno Company.

"Typical Lloyd! It's just like him to be late!" Genis hollered as he crossed his arms. "And to think it's his birthday too!"

"Guys! Sorry I'm late!" Another voice called out as he ran towards the gang. A large dog-like creature was following him. "Sorry to keep you waiting!"

"Don't worry, Lloyd! We haven't been waiting long!" Colette cried out happily.

"I had Noishe carry me the rest of the way here," Lloyd said apologetically.

"It's alright, Lloyd, we didn't wait very long," Raine assured him.

"It's a new record for you, Lloyd! We didn't have to wait one hour for you!" Genis commented, giving his best friend a huge smile.

"Geez, thanks a lot, Genis," Lloyd replied. Then he sighed.

"What's the matter, Lloyd?" Presea asked as she tilted her head to one side. "It's your birthday today. You should be happy."

"I wish he was here..."

The others immediately knew who Lloyd was talking about. They had often wondered how he was doing too. Although he had betrayed all of them at one point, but it was also him that helped lead them in the correct direction, in order to reunite the two worlds. He had secretly protected them, especially Lloyd, when they were in Tethe'alla. He was also the one who saved them from the death traps in the Tower of Salvation on the way to the Chamber of the Great Seed. And he was also the one who opened the way to the Eternal Sword.

"I shouldn't have let him go...I should have stopped him...Then maybe, he would be here, together with us," Lloyd muttered. Ever since that day he had sent the one person that was of any real importance to him, his only real family member left, to a place where he can never return, Lloyd had always wondered if he could have stopped him. So that he could make up for the lost fourteen years of time, together with him.

"Lloyd, now is not the time to regret your decision," Raine reprimanded the swordsman. "You're five years too late for that."

"And besides, it was his decision, was it not?" Regal added. "You knew very well he won't change his mind once he's made his decision, even if you had tried to stop him."

"Besides, he's not lonely up there," Sheena continued. "He has a very important friend together with him, up there."

"Lloyd," Colette said as she walked up and took Lloyd's left hand and held it with her own. "It's your birthday today. Don't let your regrets bother you, okay?"

"You're all right. I shouldn't let this bother me anymore. Afterall, it has been five years since I sent him and Yuan to Derris-Kharlan," Lloyd replied, looking up at all his friends. "Thanks, you guys. Come on! Let's get the party started!"

"Yeah!" And they all proceeded into Sheena's, the Chief's, house.

OoOoOoO

"Ugh! How the heck do you fight this guy! Our magic aren't affecting him!"

"I'm trying to remember!" Kratos snapped as he raised another protection spell to block another one of Verius' attacks.

The battle against Verius wasn't going well. For one thing, both seraphim's attacks were not affecting the Summon Spirit much at all. And another thing, they can't get seem to get close to the kyubi. So they were stuck using magic. Not that it bothered them much, since the both of them were quite proficient with magic. The thing that bothered the angels was that it wasn't having much effect. Thus, on a few occasions, Yuan had tried to get close to the Summon Spirit to try whacking him with his double-bladed polearm, Gungnir, but whenever he got close to Verius, the Summon Spirit of Heart would knock the half-elf back with some unknown force. And his reward was a First Aid spell from Kratos to heal his wounds, no matter how minor they were.

Kratos was desperately trying to remember something that his father had often told him about Verius. Because Verius' power was lost since the start of the Ancient Kharlan War, the summoners of the Summoner Clan did not bother much with the Summon Spirit of Heart, and instead focused more on the other Summon Spirits that were actually still existent. His father had often told him that it was his family lineage that refused to give up on Verius, thus they had always remembered that the kyubi was a Summon Spirit that had existed. It was their family that kept the memory of Verius alive. It was strange that he remembered that little detail, and yet couldn't recall what was that _one_ important thing his old man had often told him during his training to be a high summoner.

"Kratos! Watch out!" Yuan's cry snapped the blue-winged seraph back to the present. It was then he realised that an attack was coming towards him. And there wasn't enough time to dodge nor block it. Even with Guardian. There just wasn't enough time to even ready the defensive skill. It was then Yuan came in-between Kratos and Verius' attack and used his Force Field defensive skill to block the attack. But even after that, Yuan was thrown back by it. Kratos quickly caught the half-elf in his arms to prevent Yuan from slamming into a tree that was behind them.

"Is it just me or are you always saving my life?" Kratos muttered as he helped Yuan get back to his feet. It wasn't the first time Yuan had saved the magic swordsman's life. When Kratos had released the seal to Origin, if Yuan hadn't came and transferred some of his mana and gave it to Kratos, he would surely had lost his life then. And mana transfusion was one of the many techniques that was developed during the Ancient Kharlan War that only angels could use. Just like the technique they used to stop their body's internal clock, thereby entirely stopping their aging process.

"Hey, didn't you do that a lot for me too when we were travelling together with Mithos during the Kharlan War?" Yuan replied, finally regaining his balance and sticking Gungnir to the ground for support. "So we're even."

"I don't think I can argue with that."

And both seraphim turned to face Verius once again, with more determination than ever.

"What is the reason that you fight me with all your strength? You, the one with the right of the pact," Verius asked as he stood there, unmoving from his spot. As the Summon Spirit asked that question, both angels realised that since this battle began, Verius hasn't even moved a single inch.

"This is ridiculous! That guy didn't even move an inch!" Yuan commented as he raised Gungnir once more in his guarding stance.

But Kratos wasn't paying attention to the half-elf. Instead, he was focused on the question Verius asked him. Indeed. What is the reason he is fighting the Summon Spirit of Heart with all his strength? Even though magic don't seem to be working, and they can't even get close to Verius, both he and Yuan pressed on and never let up their attacks, hoping that one might actually work. Why was he doing this? The swordsman had always been the objective one, knowing when to stop trying the same thing again and again. And yet, there he was, continuously trying to use magic on Verius when it clearly did not have much effect. Was he desperate for Verius' power? But it was the kyubi who wanted a pact. Not him. So why?

_What Verius wants to see is not your strength, but your heart._

It was then and there that Kratos remembered that one important thing that his father had told him about Verius.

"Gah! This is getting annoying!" Yuan screamed as he cast Thunder Blade on Verius, and achieved the same results. There was hardly any effect on the Summon Spirit. "And what does he mean when he asked that question?"

Kratos stepped up and raised his left arm in-front of Yuan, as a sign of stopping the half-elf from attacking any further. "Yuan, I'll handle the rest."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Just...leave it to me," Kratos replied as gripped the Last Fencer with both of his hands and raised it across his chest. Yuan did not question Kratos further and just stood back. "Here I come, Verius!"

Kratos dashed forward, towards Verius at an incredible speed. The kyubi fired an attack towards the swordsman, but he quickly sidestepped to his right and avoided the attack. As he inched closer to Verius, dodging attack after attack the Summon Spirit threw at him, his mind swirled with a mixture of thoughts, trying to find the reason why he was fighting Verius with all his strength.

_I will not let the Giant Tree and this world to die. After all that I did, after all the pain and hurt I had went through and caused, betraying a very important friend from the past, just so that I can correct his mistakes. Betraying my own son and his friends whom I had grown to care for and trust. I was always running away from problems, thinking that there was no other way to correct past mistakes. But ever since that illusion at Welgaia, I had decided to stop running away, and face any problems, any mistakes, head on. _

Martel knew I loved this world as much as she did, and that I would never abandon this world when it was in trouble. To stop the Kharlan War...was the vow I made the first time I made pacts with the Summon Spirits. And yet, I let Mithos split the world in two, and let him have his way. If it weren't for the fact that the Summon Spirits had acted as seals and the link which protects the Great Seed, I would have went and formed pacts with the Summon Spirits myself, searched for a way to release Origin's seal without ending up killing myself, and wield the Eternal Sword, just to fix all that. And at that time, my vow would have been, "To reunite the two worlds, and restore it to its original form".

And now? What is the reason I'm fighting with all my strength? The Giant Tree was dying once again. And it wasn't because of a stupid war, like it was 4000 years ago. It was because of something unknown to us. And I must find out what it is and stop it. In order to protect this world.

Maybe, it wasn't just Verius who desired this pact. I too, might have desired this pact. But...I'm not sure what is it that I truly desired. Is it because of all that had happened in the past, that I wanted to make sure that the world will not fall into ruin again? Or is it that I do not want the same mistakes to be repeated again? I...don't really know myself.

But I do know one thing. That is, I will protect this world with my very life, for as long as I live.

Kratos made the final dash towards Verius. Just before the blue-winged seraph reached the kyubi, he asked once more, "What is the reason that you fight me with all your strength?"

"Because I too, desire this pact, just like you. So that I can protect this world and the Giant Tree, for as long as I live! And that, will be my vow!"

Kratos paused in-front of Verius, raising his sword above his head, and summoned his crystal blue wings.

"Shining Bind!"

A circle appeared below Kratos' feet, with the seraph at it's center, and Verius within the edges of that same circle. Rays of light started rising all around the circle, striking Verius at where he stood. The Summon Spirit was trying very hard not to be knocked down by the attack, but it was quite difficult. Verius was barely holding his position. It was then Kratos flew up, with his sword still raised above his head, and came down at the kyubi, swinging his sword down, causing an explosion of light when the Last Fencer came into contact with the Summon Spirit of Heart. Verius could no longer hold his position and was blown backwards and Kratos' wings disappeared as he landed.

Lowering his sword and getting back into standing position, Yuan came up to the swordsman and stood beside him.

"You did it!" Yuan cried triumphantly. "You managed to strike Verius! But...how?"

"You can't fight Verius with your strength. You must fight him with your heart," Kratos replied as he watched the Summon Spirit get back to his feet.

"Huh? I don't get it..." Yuan muttered as he scratched his head with his free hand.

"If you don't understand, then you do not know what it means to fight with your heart."

"Kratos, you didn't have to put it that way..." Yuan murmured as he decided to play with his little fingers.

Verius approached the two seraphim once more, and stopped as he reached where they were standing.

"Verius..."

"I have seen your heart. And we will form a pact based on that."

"Whoa!" Yuan cried out, surrendering both of his arms into the air. "You mean he passed?"

"That's right," Verius replied as he turned to look directly into Kratos' eyes. "I hereby grant you my power, pact-maker Kratos!"

Verius disappeared in a swirl of pink light, and in its place, a green colored gem slowly floated down into Kratos' left hand. It was an emerald, the proof of the pact with the Summon Spirit of Heart.

"So that means you can summon Verius?" Yuan asked excitedly as he put away his weapon.

"Why are you so excited about me summoning? It's not like you've never seen me doing it," Kratos replied, shaking his head, sheathed his sword and put the emerald away into one of his pouches.

"No! I mean, will I get to see you high summon?" Yuan replied, waving his arms in the air wildly like a child.

"It depends," Kratos simply said as he started walking away.

"What do you mean, it depends?" Yuan questioned as he ran to keep pace with the human angel.

"Exactly what I said."

"Kratos! You're no fun!" Yuan cried as he made a funny face at his human companion.

"And you're acting like a kid," Kratos simply commented.

_High Summoner Kratos Aurion, I hope to grow strong together with you, the one with a heart that knows despair, pain, regret, hurt, but also know kindness, love, friendship, courage and hope. So that we can protect this world..._

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Gah! It's been such a long time since I wrote a FanFic! Just take a look for yourself when was the last FanFic chapter I finished. 

But, anyways, this is my first FanFic for Tales of Symphonia. And most of you have probably already figured it out, Kratos is my favourite character and I wouldn't give him up for the world! (The world of ToS that is...)

I've always thought that, as I went through the game a second time, getting Kratos again (I got him the first time too), it was kinda scary how he knows so much about the Summon Spirits. It's almost like he's a summoner himself! And that is also why he could seal a summon spirit. Well, anyways, that's exactly what I did, and I made it so that he not only taught Mithos how to wield a sword, but also how to summon. Fun, isn't it? And also, I dunno whether you've noticed it or not, Kratos likes to slip into speaking the angelic language when he's annoyed or frustrated. It doesn't happen in the game though. He always seem so calm and collected, except that they when had to trash Kvar! Did you see how he brutally -gasp- murdered the Desian Grand Cardinal?

Yep. Yuan gets a lot of time in this fic, since he's always with Kratos. I dunno much about Yuan's character, so sorry if he may seem a bit OOC (Wait, Kratos seems a bit OOC too...) And I've always wondered why Kratos said "we" in the ending when Lloyd was about to send him to Derris-Kharlan. Well, it could either be a translation error, or he had really meant "we", meaning both him and Yuan, he is, afterall, an Angel of Cruxis too.

The others won't get much time in the fic yet, until a bit later, considering the main focus of the Fic to be Kratos here. And in case you haven't figured it out, Zelos is dead in this fic, sorry, Zelos fans. Yes...I'm mainly using stuff from the Kratos path, and there is also a reason why Kratos is using the Last Fencer. It probably won't be explained until later. I wonder when...

And the name Sekundes is from the Greater Craymel of Time from Tales of Eternia (Tales of Destiny 2 in the US), in case you're wondering. So, I essentially plucked the Greater Craymel of Time from ToE and put him in this fic as the Summon Spirit of Time.


	2. The Torrential Tsunami of Undine

**Angels of Cruxis**

Written by Rena Chan 

Finished on 20/11/2004

* * *

**Chapter 2 - The Torrential Tsunami of Undine**

"Hey, Yuan."

"Hmm...?"

"Since you were bored enough to count time, what date is it today?"

"Hmm...let me see," Yuan replied as he took out his diary and flipped through it. "Uhh...it's been five years since we were sent to Derris-Kharlan. And today is...27th July."

"27th July...huh?" Kratos repeated as he stared blankly at the sky while he walked. _"It's Lloyd's birthday today..."_

Yuan sighed as he slammed his diary shut and put it away. "How are we supposed to find the Summon Spirits? Till now, I still haven't sensed a spot where there is a high concentration of a particular type of mana."

Both Cruxis Angels are currently walking across the field towards the direction of Luin, hoping to be able to find any trace of a high concentration of mana at a single spot. Ever since they had left the Holy Ground, the both of them had been in deep concentration, trying to sense anywhere with a high concentration of mana. But so far, they weren't having any luck.

_"Maybe it won't be as easy as I thought. Afterall, it took me twelve years to find Undine, Sylph, Efreet, Gnome, Celsius, Volt, Shadow, Aska and Luna. Even that annoying Sekundes was in the list, although I never really did succeed in forming a pact with him,"_ Kratos thought silently. _"Twelve years...it took me twelve years. And I cannot afford to use that much time this time round, cause once the Giant Tree's dead, that's it,"_ the angel continued thinking bitterly. Then he turned to look at the blue exsphere on his hand. _"Perhaps I should use that inscription to try and find the Summon Spirits. At least it will widen the area in which I can sense the mana flow. But that inscription needs a lot of time to use...and..."_

Kratos sighed. But at this point in time, he probably didn't have much choice. "Let's stop at Luin."

"Huh?" Yuan said as he stopped to look at the swordsman. "Why?"

"I want to do something there," Kratos replied, turning to blink at the sky. "And also, I want to do some gel and herb shopping."

"Gels and herbs?" Yuan asked, surprised. "Your healing magic have improved tremendously since five years ago. Why the healing items?"

"Do not underestimate the power of gels and herbs."

"Gah! Not that line! You _just love_ to say that, don't you?" Yuan said, surrendering his arms into the sky. "And the next thing you'll say is probably going to be, 'It doesn't hurt to be prepared.'."

"It doesn't hurt to be prepared."

"Kratos!"

"You're the one who said that I would say it."

"But you didn't _actually_ have to say it! You're just doing it to spite me, right?"

"Whatever."

"Geez!" Yuan screamed as he picked up his pace and walked ahead of the blue-winged seraph.

OoOoOoO

_"Our power alone won't be enough to save the elves of Heimdall. We need the healing power of water's mana, the one who controls the power of water, the Summon Spirit of Water, Undine! With Undine and our healing power, only then we can cure the terrible illness that is plaguing the village! You must seek the aid of the Summon Spirit of Water!"_

_"I...must...find Undine..."_ The elf thought as he edged his way onward. _"I cannot collapse...not now...The fate of the entire village depends on me..."_

The elf had been travelling non-stop for so many days now that he himself had lost count. He didn't even stop to eat or sleep. Moreover, he was attacked by wandering monsters quite often, and without thinking, he just blindly used his most powerful magic to beat them quickly, which in turn, drained his mana quite quickly, and left him unable to finish off any other monsters that attacked him after that. Thus, the elf just took the monsters' attacks and ran away as fast as he could from them. And together with his weakened body's state, it was no wonder he was on the verge of collapsing.

_"I'm almost there..."_ The elf said once again, as he almost reached his destination. But fatigue won out in the end and he finally collapsed. _"Everyone...I'm sorry..."_

OoOoOoO

"Ahh! It has been too long since I stepped into a town!" Yuan commented as he stretched both of his arms. "Civilization never looked so welcoming!"

Kratos' eyes darted around the City of Water, Luin, as he surveyed for any changes since he was last here. This was his favourite city, and yet it was also one of the cities he disliked most, for it holds a lot of memories, both good and bad, for the swordsman. He had experienced both his happiest moments and also some of his saddest moments, all in this one city. But dispute the memories he has of it, he had vowed to protect this city, should it ever get attacked again.

"Wow! Isn't this a statue of Lloyd?" Yuan's voice snapped Kratos out of his thoughts. He watched the half-elf curiously as he approached the fountain, where the people of Luin had erected a statue of Lloyd.

"Yuan..." Kratos muttered as he slapped his hand on his forehead. "We're not here to sightsee."

"Surely you don't need me to go item shopping with you, right?" Yuan said in annoyance. "I'm going sightseeing while you do your item shopping."

"Fine with me. We'll meet here in one hour's time. That should be plenty of time for you," Kratos replied as he started walking in the direction that led to the item shop.

"Oh, it's plenty of time for me," Yuan replied as he continued staring at the Lloyd statue. "So...Lloyd is a hero to this city? How amusing...but the person who made this...must have been incredibly skilled..."

After staring at the statue for another full minute, Yuan decided to explore the town more. After walking around a bit, Yuan had noticed that Luin was beautiful, and the people were cheerful, without a care in the world.

_"This town was destroyed in the Kharlan War, and then rebuilt. And I heard that it was destroyed again, then rebuilt again. The name Luin...is a good name for it. Whoever changed the name of this city was brilliant person..."_

Yuan stopped as he saw another statue. This time, it was a female ninja. _"Isn't this the summoner ninja girl?"_ Yuan thought. _"She's a hero to this city too? But the way it's carved, it's just simply amazing!"_

While the half-elf was staring at the statue of Sheena, his heightened hearing picked up a conversation from the inn, which was quite near to where he was standing. And what he heard was quite interesting. At least to him anyway.

"Someone found a person collapsed near Lake Umacy. And he's pretty injured."

"Yeah. And judging from the state he's in, he must have also not eaten for a few days."

Yuan was curious as to where this conversation was heading, thus he walked into the inn so that he could take a look. After looking around for a while, he found the two people responsible for this conversation and looked at them as he tried to pick out more of the conversation.

"Rumors said that the person that collapsed is an elf!"

"Are you sure? An elf? Are you sure they're not bluffing? Elves hardly ever leave their village! And Lake Umacy is quite a distance from Heimdall!"

"They said that he had pointed ears! Only elves have pointed ears! So I don't think they're bluffing!"

"Ahem," Yuan cleared his throat as he finally decided to stand beside the two people whose conversation which he had took interest in. "Can you tell me more about this person that collapsed?"

Both humans turned to stare at Yuan. After a few seconds, the one on the right finally spoke. "You should speak to the innkeeper. He knows all the details."

"Thank you," Yuan replied politely as he thanked them. Then he made his way to the counter.

"Hello, can I help you?" The innkeeper greeted Yuan as the half-elf reached the counter.

"Umm...can I see the person that you have staying here that was found near Lake Umacy?" Yuan said slowly, trying to put his words in a way that it wouldn't seem suspicious to the innkeeper.

"Are you related to him?" The innkeeper asked suspiciously.

"Umm...you could say that," Yuan replied nervously. _"Stay calm, Yuan... Stay calm..."_

Being calm was never what Yuan was good at. Sure, he can be quite calm at times, but it was nothing compared to Kratos. Hardly anything ever made the swordsman panic. It was on very rare occasions that Kratos panicked, but it was usually when he got emotional. So, most of the time, the blue-winged seraph was always calm and collected, and had his wits with him all the time.

"Very well. I'll take you to see him."

The innkeeper lead Yuan to a room on the far end of the second floor. He opened the door and motioned for the half-elf to go inside. There, Yuan got a good look at the person in bed. He had blue hair and wore a blue shirt on the inside and a white vest on the outside, over the blue shirt. And he had a pair of green pants on him. On his hands, he wore a pair of brown colored gloves that stopped halfway across the length of his arm. Attached on his right hand was an exsphere, with a golden colored mount that acts as the key crest. And he had pointed ears.

But the exsphere that was on him and the clothes that he wore wasn't Yuan's greatest concern right now. It was the fact that this person lying in the bed was an elf. Yuan didn't even need to see the person's pointed ears to know he was an elf. He could already tell from his mana signature when the seraph first entered the room. And it was also a fact that this elf is seriously injured right now.

"He's seriously injured..." Yuan commented as he touched the hand of the elf. "Have you already send for a doctor?"

"Yes. Someone had volunteered to get the doctor," the innkeeper replied. "But the nearest doctor from here is at Palmacosta, and it would take at least two days to get back here. I'm afraid he won't be able to hold out till then."

_You're damned right, human. At this rate, this guy won't even last till the end of the day._

"Have you tried using gels on him?" Yuan asked as he turned to look at the injured elf once more.

"We did, but no one here was able to use the gels properly to dress his wounds well enough so that he would be able to hold out for at least three more days," the innkeeper replied solemnly.

_"I don't have any gels on me right now, otherwise I would have been able to dress this elf's wounds up properly. Kratos has always been the one in charge of the items..."_

Yuan stopped and gave his forehead a hard slap. _"Why would I need gels when I can easily ask Kratos to heal him?"_ Yuan mentally reprimanded himself. _"At times like this, I shouldn't be acting silly..."_

Yuan turned and started towards the door.

The innkeeper looked at the half-elf quizzically as he approached the door. "Where are you going?"

"To get someone to help the guy, what else?" Yuan replied and disappeared at the turn once he was outside the room.

OoOoOoO

Kratos blinked at the baskets and crates of food at the item shop. _"Hmm...? They've started selling food now?"_ Kratos silently shrugged to himself. _"Might as well do food shopping at the same time then."_

The seraph carefully looked through the food, and selecting only the freshest fruits and vegetables. He also picked out some potatoes, bread and cheese and some fish and various seafood. He had always been good at picking out the freshest food, thus, during the journey with Mithos, they had left him in charge of the food, and also the items. Before he had met the group of three half-elves, he had been travelling alone, in search of the Summon Spirits all by himself. Because of this, Kratos was forced to learn how to cook and do all sorts of other things by himself quickly, in order to survive. Circumstances had forced him to grow up very quickly.

The home of the summoners was destroyed when he was just fifteen during the Ancient War. Although he wasn't the only survivor of the clan, everyone else had went into hiding, trying to live normal lives, while trying to have descendants so that the power of summoning would never be lost. Sheena was one such example. But the angel had wondered how diluted the lineage of the summoner's blood went, for her power of summoning was not as powerful as the original summoners.

_"I am the only pure blooded summoner left..."_ Kratos mused. _"I wonder, if I hadn't chosen to follow Mithos to the point where I simply had to do something, will the true power of summoning truly have been lost?"_

He had been different. Kratos had went on the difficult journey to find the Summon Spirits so that he could end the Kharlan War. _That stupid and meaningless war._ It was when he had met Mithos, Martel and Yuan, twelve years after he had began his journey. They had been amazed at the swordsman's ability to survive out in the open land. They had been the last of the half-elves to be kicked out of Heimdall and knew nothing of how to survive in the open. Kratos had came across them one day in the Gaoracchia Forest and saved them from a group of elves that were chasing them, and taught them how to survive out in the world, where war was looming everywhere and discrimination was on an unbearable scale.

He remembered how Yuan had always stared at the food whenever Kratos was cooking. He wanted to try cooking in the angel's presence, but for some reason, Yuan always blew the food and pots up whenever he tried to cook. He was a disaster at cooking. Mithos always had to keep Yuan from the swordsman when he was cooking, so that the half-elf won't blow anything up. Martel had tried to learn how to cook herself, and had made very good progress, although it was never near Kratos' level.

The seraph smiled to himself as he remembered the happier times he had with the first people he had called friends. Finally done selecting the food, and picking out herbs and gels, Kratos proceeded to the counter to make payment. After that, he slowly separated the food, herbs and gels up and placed them into their respective storage. The gels went into a brown pouch, which was meant for Yuan. The half-elf, just like Mithos, was unable to use any healing magic, but was very good at healing with gels. The herbs disappeared into the herb pack, while the food went into the food pack. The food pack has some strange way of keeping the food stored in it fresh, so Kratos didn't need to worry about the food going bad.

"The wing packs, food packs and herb packs must be the best inventions of magitechnology from the Ancient Kharlan War," Kratos muttered to himself. He never found out who created them, but that person must have been brilliant. To be able to store so much things no matter the size into one small pack which can easily fit into a backpack.

Kratos had just finished putting away the stuff he bought when someone rushed into the item shop in a hurry and nearly knocked over one of the baskets.

"Hey! Be careful! Don't run around in the shop!"

"Sorry!" Came the hurried apology. The person that had rushed into the shop had light blue hair and a dark purple cape draped over his back. He had a pair of guards in the same color on his wrists and red gloves. His clothes and boots were in a similar mix of color and he wore white colored pants. He had a bag strapped on his waist, hanging on the right. Upon spotting Kratos, he immediately went over to the swordsman's side. "Kratos!"

"What's the matter, Yuan?" Kratos asked as he adjusted the belt which holds his own belt of bags. "You came in here in such a hurry. I thought you were sightseeing?"

"I was, but, I overheard a couple of hu-- uhh, people, talking in the inn about someone finding an injured person collapsed near Lake Umacy," Yuan explained in a hurry. "Someone has already gone to get a doctor, but the doctor won't arrive for about another two days! He won't be able to last until the doctor comes!"

"So I suppose you want me to he---" Before Kratos could finish his sentence, Yuan had already grabbed his hand and dragged the angel out of the item shop. "Hey!"

The half-elf dragged a reluctant Kratos across the street of Luin, past the Raine statue, across the bridge, past the weapon shop, past the Sheena statue, and finally into the inn. Through the "short" journey they had went, Kratos had kept on screaming Yuan's name a few times but the half-elf had ignored him, and people along the path they had went were staring at the two angels, wondering what was going on between the duo.

Yuan finally let go of the blue-winged seraph's hand when he reached the room where the injured elf sleeps. Yuan nodded to the innkeeper and told him to leave them alone. He complied, went out of the room and closed the door behind him, leaving the angels and elf alone.

"I could have walked all the way here by myself!" Kratos said in annoyance as he rubbed his slightly bruised hand which Yuan had grabbed.

"You probably would have took your time coming here if I didn't drag you," Yuan mumbled as he walked over to the side of the bed where the elf slept. "I'm trying to save a life here."

Kratos walked over to the bed too a few seconds later, stopping at the opposite side where Yuan stood. He looked at the sleeping elf's face which seemed to be in pain. It looked like he was having a bad dream. Then he noticed the mana signature of the person sleeping in the bed. "He's an elf..."

"So what he's an elf?" Yuan asked as he reached out to feel the pulse of the elf in bed.

"I thought you didn't like elves. You hated them from throwing you, Mithos and Martel out of Heimdall, the only home you had ever known."

"Yes...but! I'm not so cruel as to leave someone at death's door, even if he's an elf! Besides, I never said I hated elves in the first place."

"Hmph. Come to think of it, I've never heard you mentioning that you hated elves. It was Mithos that always said that," Kratos remarked as he sat down and placed his hands over the injured elf's body.

"Whatever," Yuan replied as he turned away from the bed and sat at the other end of the room, letting Kratos concentrate on healing the elf.

_"Hmm, perhaps it would be a good time to use that new healing spell I picked up while studying Boltzman's healing techniques, trying to improve on Healing Wind and Healing Stream."_

Focusing his mind into the spell he wanted to cast, Kratos gathered healing mana into both of his hands and focused it onto the injured elf. "Power of the purest light, grant me thy power to save life! Healing Light!"

A circle of light appeared below the bed where the elf slept. Light rose all around the circle, seemingly trying to engulf the elf. A few seconds later, the healing circle disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, and the light disappeared as well.

"What was that?" Yuan asked as he walked over, noticing that Kratos had finished healing the elf.

"A new healing spell I picked up while studying Boltzman's healing techniques when I was trying to improve on the power of Healing Wind and Healing Stream," Kratos replied as he pulled the blanket over the elf.

"You really love to read, don't you?"

"Where else do you think I got all these knowledge from?" Then Kratos stood up. "I'm going to fix something up for the elf to eat when he wakes up. Injury wasn't the only thing plaguing his body. There were also signs of fatigue and the lack of food. Moreover, his mana was also pretty drained. He won't be able to regain his energy if he doesn't eat something when he wakes up."

"I'll stay here with the elf," Yuan replied as he sat down beside the bed. "Oh, would you mind fixing something up for me too?" Yuan added after a few seconds.

"Very well," Kratos replied as he disappeared out of the room.

OoOoOoO

"So Lloyd, how goes the exsphere hunting?"

Everyone were gathered together, sitting around the campfire they had set up in the center of Mizuho. The partying was mostly over, and now, the seven of them, Lloyd, Colette, Genis, Raine, Sheena, Presea and Regal, had gathered at the campfire to catch up on what they had all been doing for the past five years.

Lloyd turned to look up into the night sky. Noishe had already fallen asleep beside the Eternal Swordsman. As he stared at the stars, he could have sworn he saw Derris-Kharlan float by, but then it probably was just his imagination.

"Although my original goal was to collect all the exspheres and destroy them, but after travelling around, I've realised something," Lloyd started as he continued to look at the starry sky. "I realised that people have begun to rely on exspheres as part of their daily lives. They were even used to power machines. Then I thought that, to destroy them, would mean destroying what is considered to be part of their lives. Besides, they weren't being used to do evil, but to help people."

Then Lloyd stopped looking at the sky and turned to stare at the campfire, hugging both legs. "Then I remembered how exspheres were made. They were made with the sacrifice of human lives. If I destroyed them, it would be the same as destroying the lives that had been sacrificed to awaken them. Besides, exspheres don't actually harm people. As long as there is a key crest on it, then..."

"And also, what Tabatha told us when she showed us the waterfall at the Toize Valley Mine, where there were a lot of exspheres," Presea started, nodding, understanding where this was heading. "Exspheres are actually lonely, lifeless beings. They just want someone to be friends with."

"Yeah," Lloyd replied as he leaned back on his arms and turned to stare at the starry night sky again. "So, I changed my goal. Instead of travelling around to collect exspheres, I'm travelling around to make sure that exspheres aren't being used for evil. If they were being used for that purpose, I would take the exspheres from them and give them to people who would not abuse them."

"That's really noble of you, Lloyd," Raine commented, as she stroked Genis' head on her lap while he slept. The half-elf had fallen asleep earlier. All the partying had made him more tired than he had thought, and fell asleep on his sister's lap. "As for us, our journey to get people to accept half-elves had shown some progress. Although there are still discrimination in this world, it's not as fierce or as bad as when we had started the journey to regenerate the world. And Genis...doesn't hate humans as much anymore."

"That's great, Professor!" Colette exclaimed, clasping both of her hands together and smiled.

"But there are still people that despises us half-elves..." Raine commented sadly.

"It doesn't matter, as long as there are people that accept you for who you are," Sheena said as she looked sadly at the campfire. "But you know...what I really think? Discrimination, probably will never disappear from this world. Because I had the power of summoning...That's why I was shunned by people..."

"Sheena! How could you say that?" Lloyd screamed at the former summoner, standing up from his spot and looking agitated. "Discrimination will disappear one day!"

"You're too idealistic, Lloyd," Sheena replied, hugging her legs and shifting into a better sitting position. "But as long as the whole world is not against you, I think that's good enough. Even if it's just only half of Symphonia that doesn't bear discrimination, it's good enough. That's how I came to accept the fact that I had the power of summoning, and also to accept the people who shuns me."

"I agree with Sheena," Raine replied.

"Not you too, Professor Sage!" Lloyd yelled over the campfire, swinging his right arm to the back.

"But we won't give up, Lloyd. Perhaps one day, discrimination will really disappear. Even if it doesn't completely disappear, but you would have known that you have at least tried."

"But then you would have ended most of it already!" Colette exclaimed again, giving everyone her trademark big smile.

"I envy you sometimes, Colette. You are a really strong girl," Regal commented, sitting cross-legged at the campfire.

"What about the both of you? How's the Lezareno Company doing?" Raine asked. Lloyd finally sat down at his spot again.

"Well, we're mostly doing charity work now," Presea replied in her usual monotonous tone.

"Yes. To help the sick and the poor, give them homes and jobs, and also a place where anyone could stay," Regal added as he closed his eyes and tilted his head to the side. "Of course, we're still running Altamira as a resort and doing a lot of our original work, except exsphere mining, but the revenue generated from those were mostly used to better the lives of these people. You can't help the poor if you don't have any money yourself, right?"

"That's right!" Colette exclaimed again, this time, thrusting her right arm into the air.

"I swear, something is seriously wrong with Colette today," Sheena muttered as she finally sat in a cross-legged position. "As for me, well, as you can see, the Igaguri style is slowly being revived here among the ninjas here at Mizuho. Very soon, Mizuho would regain its former glory and be the greatest ninja clan once again. Not really anything very eventful..."

"You're still thinking about him, isn't that right, Sheena?" Raine asked as she watched Genis turn around in his sleep.

"That Stupid Chosen! He promised that he would always be with me! And yet he had to go and pull a stunt like that!"

"I wished we could have noticed his true feelings earlier, then maybe, we could have saved him!" Lloyd said as he slammed his fist into the ground.

"There isn't any point in recalling all these sad memories," Regal commented as he tossed a piece of firewood into the fire to keep it going.

"At least all of you are doing something meaningful with your lives," Colette muttered, suddenly looking downcast. "I didn't do anything much, just living my life at Iselia as a normal girl, not as the Chosen of Mana."

"But, to say nothing eventful is happening in your life would be wrong," Presea commented. "I think, to finally be able to live the life you want and not as the Chosen of Mana, where your fate has already been decided, is a good thing. At least you would be able to catch up to all those years of not being able to live a normal life."

"Presea's right," Lloyd added. "To be able to live your life the way you want, is the actual way to live. That's exactly what we are all doing right now. Living our lives the way we want to."

Colette finally smiled again. "You're right Lloyd! I should be happy!"

"That's the Colette I know!"

Sheena finally stood up from her sitting spot and stretched her arms. "It's about time we went to sleep. We still got to prepare for our scheduled five years after the world has been reunited visit to the Giant Yggdrasill Tree tomorrow."

"Yeah! I'm going to go to sleep now," Colette said as she stood up. "Professor, need my help to carry Genis to his bed?"

"That would be much appreciated."

Lloyd watched as his gathered friends stood up and went to their assigned rooms. After everyone else was gone, Lloyd laid down on his back on the grass, and stared at the night sky, observing the stars that were on the seemingly black void, stroking Noishe's soft fur at the same time.

_"I miss you terribly. I wish you were here with me. Noishe and I miss you so much. I want to see you again, Dad..."_

OoOoOoO

_"You have failed the people of Heimdall! You are no longer welcomed here!" _

"No! I tried my best! I pressed on, without food or rest, just to get to where Undine was!"

"But you're dead! A dead person can't do anything! You have failed us! Failed us all! You're a disgrace to Heimdall!"

"No! This can't be happening, I failed everyone!"

"I failed everyone!" The elf screamed as he sat up in bed, perspiring profusely.

Yuan jumped from where he was sitting across the room and scribbling something into a notebook. Due to his heightened hearing, his ears were now a bit hurting from the sudden outburst. Then he turned to look at the elf who woke up, screaming.

"I'm not...dead?" The elf exclaimed as he examined himself. "My wounds are all gone..."

"Is that the only thing you can say right after you wake up?" Yuan commented as he felt hurt from being ignored. Then he closed his book and walked over to the bed.

"You're finally awake," Yuan said as he stopped beside the bed.

"Did you...save me?" The elf asked as he turned to address Yuan.

"You could say that," Yuan replied as he sat down. "But actually, it was some random human that found you collapsed near Lake Umacy and brought you here to Luin. I...kinda overheard a conversation on this and asked my companion to heal you."

"Oh no! I have to go back to Lake Umacy! The fate of Heimdall depends on it!" The elf yelled as he got out of bed and started running towards the door. But before he could even take a single step, the elf fell flat on his face.

"Your body still haven't fully recovered its mana. You shouldn't move around too much."

Yuan stood up and walked up to where the elf had fell. Kneeling down, he helped the elf back onto his bed. "Kratos, you sure took your time with cooking."

"I had trouble convincing the innkeeper to let me use the kitchen," Kratos replied as he walked over to the table and set a tray of food on it.

"I'm starving!" Yuan cried and literally dashed to the table after setting the elf back onto his bed. "Oh yeah! Meat stew!" He promptly sat down and devoured his share of the food.

"Be careful you don't choke yourself," Kratos muttered as he brought a bowl of food over to the bed where the elf was resting. "You better eat something first. You can't do anything much in that weakened state," Kratos said as he offered the bowl of meat stew to the elf.

"But I must go back to Lake Umacy! I need to save Heimdall!"

Kratos raised his left hand and began to gather lightning mana in it. "No you can't. You must rest first. Or do I have to paralyze you so that you would stay in bed?"

The elf gasped as he felt the mana being gathered in Kratos' hand. But that wasn't what surprised him most. It was the fact that a human was using magic, right in-front of his eyes.

"Yuh cun't saaue Helmdial uf yuh're dmed," Yuan mumbled with his mouth full of stew.

"Yuan! Don't talk with your mouth full!" Kratos scolded as he stop charging the lightning spell.

"Sorry," Yuan apologized after he swallowed his food.

"Now, eat," Kratos commanded as he turned his attention back to the elf and offered the bowl of meat stew to him again.

"I...uhh...thank you," The elf replied as he took the bowl of meat stew from Kratos' hands. He took a sniff at it and cautiously took a scoop of it with the spoon and ate it. "Hey! This is good!" He commented as he began to eat faster. He was hungrier that he had thought he was.

"Great. Now I have to watch two pigs eat. It's going to ruin my appetite," Kratos murmured as he sat down at the table and started eating his bowl of meat stew.

"I heard that, Kratos!" Yuan cried after swallowing another spoon of his food.

"What?"

"No use trying to feign innocence!"

"I wasn't feigning innocence," Kratos countered as he took another spoon of stew and ate it.

"Yes you were!"

"Shut up, Yuan."

"That's the third time you've said that to me today!"

Kratos slapped his forehead. "You really must be bored. First you count time, and now you count how many times I've said the same thing to you in one day? What will you end up counting next? How many grains of rice are there in a sack?"

"Kratos! That is not funny!"

The elf laughed softly as he watched the two angels bicker. It was weird. At least to him anyway. _"Judging from the way they bicker, the both of them must be really good friends. It's strange...a human and a half-elf, who are best friends..."_

"Let me eat in peace!" Kratos finally yelled as he used the spoon in his hand and hit Yuan's head with it.

"Hey! That hurt!" Yuan complained as he rubbed his head at where the bruise was with his right hand. "Heal it right now!"

"Heal it yourself," Kratos growled as he took out a brown pouch and put it on the table. "I'm putting you in-charge of the gels."

"You're always putting me in-charge of the gels," Yuan complained as he poked the spot on his head where it's injured.

"Then don't be so good at healing with gels," Kratos muttered as he finished up his meat stew.

"I blame it on my inability to use healing magic, no matter how hard I try to cast one," Yuan replied as he finally stopped rubbing his head as the pain subsided. The half-elf then grabbed the brown pouch that Kratos had put on the table and stuffed it into his own bag.

"Umm...thank you for saving my life."

The two angels turned to face the elf when they heard him speak. Kratos sighed as he stood up and walked over to the bed and took the bowl from the elf as he noticed that he had finished eating. Then the swordsman walked back to the table and placed the dirty bowl together with the other two bowls.

"But...why did you save me?"

"Do you need a reason to help someone?" Kratos replied as he sat back down and crossed his arms.

"No! I mean...you're a human and he's a half-elf... Elves and humans have been on bad terms with each other since who knows when, and elves simply hate half-elves just because they aren't pureblood..."

"Before we continue this any further, answer this question. How old are you?" Yuan asked as his crossed his arms on the table.

"Umm...One hundred and two years..."

"If you have seen and experienced as much as we have, you will know that things like these doesn't matter," Kratos replied as he closed his eyes and opened them again after a few seconds. "It's the heart that counts."

"That's pretty deep, for something coming from you," Yuan said as he tilted his head to the side.

"But...I still want to know why you saved me..." The elf said, more forcefully this time.

"Haven't Kratos already said it? Do you need a reason to help people?" Yuan replied as he shifted his legs at where he was sitting.

"We helped you because we wanted to," Kratos said as he walked over to the doorway that lead to the balcony and leaned against the side with his arms crossed.

"Because...you wanted to?"

"Yes. Because we wanted to," Yuan repeated as he lazily rested his head on his left hand, using his left arm as support.

"I don't believe we've introduced ourselves yet," Kratos said as he turned to look at the night sky. "I'm Kratos Aurion, and my half-elf friend over there is Yuan Crestfield."

"Uhh...I'm Keele Silverlance..." Keele said as he introduced himself. But somehow, he felt that he had heard those names somewhere before, but shrugged it off as he couldn't seem to recall where he had heard those names.

"Okay then. So, Keele," Yuan started as he crossed his arms on the table again. "Seeing as how you were found near Lake Umacy, and you mentioned that you must go back there, I'm assuming that you were going to do something there?"

"And why were you yelling 'I failed everyone!' when you woke up?" Kratos added without removing his gaze from the stars on the night sky, silently wondering if Lloyd was watching the same sky right now.

Yuan nearly choked. "You heard that?"

"Yes. I heard that all the way from downstairs. And if I heard it, it must mean that it was very ear piercing for you."

"Don't remind me..." Yuan muttered as he rubbed his ears.

"You could hear me scream when you're all the way downstairs? How is it possible?" Keele asked as he blinked at the star gazing form of Kratos.

"It's better that you don't know," Yuan muttered. "Now, let's get back to the question at hand. What were you going to do at Lake Umacy?"

"You didn't eat or rest for a few days, continuously travelling without stopping," Kratos pointed out. "Must be something of great urgency."

Keele gasped. "You can tell?"

"I could tell from the state your body is in. It comes with experience," Kratos replied, without moving from his spot.

"You said something about saving Heimdall," Yuan added as he rested his head on his right arm this time. "Is Heimdall in trouble?"

"Heimdall...is being affected by some strange disease," Keele explained as he stared at the blanket that is covering his legs. "It started about a month ago, when the Elf Elder suddenly fell sick. The doctor was unable to diagnose the sickness and he left it at that and tried doing some research on it. But it wasn't long that he fell sick too. And soon, everyone else in Heimdall started falling sick...except me. I got desperate. I didn't know what was going on and what I could do, so I went into Ymir Forest and looked for the faeries. I consulted them on what the problem could be, but they had no idea either, but they did say that they can heal it, but not by their power alone. They will need to combine their healing power together with the healing power of the purest source of water's mana, the power of the Summon Spirit of Water, Undine..."

"Whoa! Wait a minute! Undine?" Yuan exclaimed as he looked up, wide-eyed.

"Yuan, let him finish," Kratos said, still not moving from his spot.

"The faeries said that one of them had felt Undine's presence at Lake Umacy a few days ago, and thus asked me to go and seek Undine's help. So, I left Heimdall and travelled day and night without stopping, trying to get to Lake Umacy to ask Undine for help..."

Kratos closed his eyes and sighed, as he looked away from the sky, uncrossed his arms and stood upright. "You better get some sleep. If you're going to seek Undine, you better make sure that you get enough rest."

Keele nodded as he laid back down on his bed and covered his body with the blanket, closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep.

"Yuan, it's time to go back to our room."

Yuan blinked as he turned to look up at Kratos. "Alright."

The two angels silently closed the door behind them as they exited the room, leaving Keele to sleep. A minute after they had left, Keele opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling.

OoOoOoO

"So, is Undine currently at Lake Umacy?" Yuan asked as he and Kratos entered their room. The half-elf then turned his attention onto the table, only to find a piece of paper with a strange crest drawn on it, a map of Symphonia, and a whole bunch of other stationery on the table. "Whoa, the table is in a mess. Were you doing something just now?"

"Before I went downstairs to prepare dinner, I was over here, using an inscription known only to summoners of the Summoner Clan, to widen the area in which I can sense the mana flow," Kratos explained as he went over to the table, sat down and started clearing it up.

"So, did you find anything?" Yuan asked as he sat down on his bed.

"I sensed a large concentration of water mana in the direction of Lake Umacy. Although the mana signature is a bit faint, it's similar to a Summon Spirit."

"So, that means Undine is at Lake Umacy?" Yuan asked as he flopped down on his bed after taking off his gloves and boots.

"I'm guessing that she is."

"So, we've managed to find our first Summon Spirit on the first day since we returned to Symphonia," Yuan commented as he pulled the blanket over his body. "Not bad, even if I do say so myself. I'm going to sleep already. Good night."

"Good night, Yuan," Kratos replied as he finished rolling up the map of Symphonia and stuffed it into his bag. After that, the swordsman prepared to go to sleep himself.

OoOoOoO

"Yuan! Wake up!"

"Mmph...five more minutes..."

"Five minutes is too long! Wake up this instant!"

"Ahh! My ears!" Yuan cried as he threw the blanket off him hastily and sat up on his bed, staring into the angry and annoyed face of Kratos. "Okay, okay! I'm up! What's wrong?" Yuan muttered as he rubbed his eyes with one hand and his ears with the other.

"Keele's gone!"

"What? Are you sure?"

_"His weapon and belongings are no longer in his room. Does that count as not gone?"_ Kratos growled in annoyance in the angelic language.

"Okay, so he's gone to Lake Umacy by himself. So, now what?"

"What else? We go after---" Kratos was unable to finish his sentence as someone came knocking on the door to their room. "Come in."

The door slowly opened to reveal the innkeeper, who was the source of the knocking. "Excuse me, but that guy which you saved yesterday has already left and asked me to give this to you."

Kratos sighed and walked over to the door to take what seems to be a letter addressed to the both of them. After accomplishing his task, the innkeeper closed the door behind him, leaving the angels to their own devices.

Yuan blinked as he saw both his and Kratos' name written on the envelope. "A letter? He wrote a letter to us before leaving?"

"Let's see what it says," Kratos murmured as he proceeded to open it.

_Kratos, Yuan, I know the both of you will try and help me save Heimdall...but...I have to do this on my own. You're both nice people, and I don't want to burden you with our problems. This is the first time I've seen a human and half-elf being so nice to an elf, although it was the elves' fault for starting all these discrimination that exists in this world. _

Thank you for saving my life, Kratos. Although I know how you got your ability to cast magic, I have no idea how a human can wield such powerful healing magic. You must love the world and all life on it a lot, that's why you are able to perform such powerful healing magic. Do continue to help people with this strong healing power of yours.

And, I hope that this strong bond of friendship between the both of you will last for as long as the both of you live, so that the world will be able to see that it's possible for anyone, no matter the blood that flows within them, to be friends. I'm glad that I met you guys. And please do not follow me.

Yours Sincerely, Keele Silverlance

"Okay. So he left us a letter and went to Lake Umacy by himself," Yuan said as he crossed his arms. "Why am I not surprised that he would pull a stunt like that?"

"Yuan, stop sitting there and get dressed quickly. We have to go after him!" Kratos exclaimed as he slipped on his gloves and put on his belt pouch and sword belt.

"What's the rush?" Yuan murmured as he put on his gloves. "I thought that Summon Spirits do not form pacts with those without human blood."

"Even though that is the case, it doesn't mean that Undine won't lend Keele her power to save Heimdall. Such an action do not require a pact. But, a Summon Spirit will still test the one who wishes to borrow their power, even if it's temporary. Keele hasn't fully recovered his strength and mana. Trying to fight a Summon Spirit alone in that state is suicide!"

"Why didn't you say that earlier?" Yuan exclaimed as he sped up what he was doing. After he finished putting on his boots, Yuan grabbed his belt pouch and ran after the blue-winged seraph who was already out the door.

OoOoOoO

"Undine! Please answer me!"

Silence. Keele looked on towards the lake of Lake Umacy. The crystal clear water that runs through it flowed silently, sparkling under the morning sun. A leaf dropped onto the water surface and made a small ripple. Keele slowly approached the lake and tried calling out for Undine again.

This time, a swirl of blue appeared above the lake and converged into a female form of blue. Water swirled all around her as she floated above the lake, violet hair flowing gently with the breeze.

"What do you want?" Undine asked Keele as she gazed upon the elf.

"Heimdall is being plagued by some strange sickness right now! I wish to borrow your power so that I can save my home!"

"I'm sure you know that we Summon Spirits do not form pacts with pureblooded elves."

Keele turned to look at the ground and back at Undine again. "Yes, I know that! But I do not want or need a pact! I just need to borrow your power for a while so that I can save the elves of Heimdall!"

Undine regarded the elf as she looked into Keele's eyes. He returned the same intense gaze to the Summon Spirit of Water.

"Very well. But I must first test how far you're willing to go to save your village. Now, draw your weapon!"

Keele gripped his bow tightly as he observed Undine. The Summon Spirit raised her hand and water rose up, forming a blade made out of water. Then she charged towards the elf. This action caught Keele off guard and he barely managed to bring his bow up to block the strike.

Undine moved backwards as she brought up her hand to cast a spell. "Spread!"

Keele barely backstepped out of the way of the rising water as he countered with a spell of his own. "Spark Wave!"

A ball of pure electricity appeared at where Undine was and struck her, sending electricity coursing through her body.

"Not bad," Undine commended as she raised her water blade to block the arrows that were shot by Keele after his initial spell.

"Thunder Arrow!" Keele yelled as he followed up with another spell. Again, Undine was unable to dodge it and got hit full blast by the next spell Keele had cast.

"However, I won't fall so easily!" Undine cried as she floated higher in the air, held her water blade with both hands in-front of her face and closed her eyes. Keele noticed this and tried firing off more arrows to strike Undine, but they all bounced off her harmlessly, as if she was shielded by some invisible force field.

"Maelstrom!"

A whirlpool appeared beneath Keele's feet as Undine said that. Suddenly, water randomly rose all around Keele and struck him. The elf was unable to dodge them and got hit very badly.

"Do you still wish to continue this fight?" Undine asked as she kept her eye on Keele. "You won't be able to last much longer with your body in that state. However, if you choose to continue this fight, I will not hold back on you, and I will not be responsible if you lose your life because of this."

Keele slowly struggled to stand up, but was having quite a lot of difficulty doing it. Even though he finally managed to stand, his legs were still shaking from Undine's last attack. "I will continue this fight! Even if it means losing my life in-order to save the elves of Heimdall!"

Undine closed her eyes and sighed. "Very well." Then she raised her hand and charged another spell.

"Undine! Stop!" A voice yelled just before the Summon Spirit of Water released the spell on Keele.

Undine turned towards the direction of the voice and saw two people near the entrance of Lake Umacy. Narrowing her eyes as she noticed something about the one with purple clothes and auburn-colored hair, she retreated near the edge of the lake.

Keele collapsed on his legs as the two newcomers who stopped his battle with Undine came over. He slowly turned to look up to see who they were. "Kratos...Yuan...what are you doing here? I thought I said not to follow me..."

Yuan felt like slapping the elf for doing something stupid like that, but he managed to clench his fist and refrained from doing so. "You moron! Why did you leave so quickly? Why didn't you wait for us?"

"I..." Keele began as he bowed his head and looked at the ground. "I didn't want to trouble the both of you! Besides, this is a problem of us elves, it has nothing to do with you humans and half-elves..."

"How can you still say something like this?" Yuan screamed as he lowered his head and covered his face, clenching both of his fists tightly. "When I read that letter you left us, I immediately knew that you were different from other elves! Why can't you act that way towards us? Especially if that's what you truly feel about humans and half-elves?"

"Yuan...I..." Keele started, without looking up at the half-elf's face. It was then something wet dripped onto his hand. "Wait a minute...these are...tears?"

"If...if Kratos hadn't said that you would end up fighting Undine if she agreed to lend you her power temporarily, I...probably wouldn't have came so quickly..."

"Yuan..." Keele said as he turned to look the other way.

Kratos sighed as he felt the tension growing between the elf and his centuries long friend. "Okay, both of you, cut it out. I do not wish to deal with two over emotional morons. One is more than I can handle."

"Kratos! I'm not an over emotional moron!" Yuan yelled. Then he turned the other way and rubbed the tears from his eyes.

"Speak for yourself," Kratos said as he knelt down beside Keele, raised both of his hands and began to gather healing mana in them. "Nurturing mother earth, gather thy healing power to this place! Healing Stream!"

A swirl of water appeared around all three of them and filled them with healing mana. After a few seconds, the water disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. Keele's wounds during his battle against Undine subsided after the healing spell took effect. The elf then turned to look at Kratos.

"Geez, you made Yuan cry," Kratos remarked as he stood up. "The last time Yuan cried was when he lost someone very important to him. Since then, he hasn't shed a single tear, until now."

A few seconds after Kratos had stood up, Keele also stood up. He turned to face Yuan and placed a hand on the half-elf's shoulder. "Yuan...I'm sorry for leaving like that..."

Yuan finally turned to look at Keele. "Haha. I must have sounded pathetic when I said all that, huh?"

"No! I didn't think of it that way!" Keele replied, waving his hands wildly in-front of his face. "But...still...you came all the way here to help me..."

"Do not think of it as you're troubling us," Yuan muttered. "Besides, we're looking for the Summon Spirits too."

"You're seeking the Summon Spirits? All of them?" Keele asked, surprised.

Yuan simply nodded. Then he turned his gaze towards Kratos. Keele followed the half-elf's gaze and saw that the magic swordsman was approaching Undine. Kratos stopped when he reached where Undine was waiting.

Undine simply remained at her spot as she acknowledged Kratos' presence. "You who possess the right of the pact, I am one who is bound to Sheena. What do you wish of me?"

Keele gasped as he heard that. Then he turned to look at Yuan. "Kratos possesses the right of the pact? Then, that means he has the power of summoning?"

"Yep. Kratos is a summoner," Yuan replied as he crossed his arms.

"That means...the both of you are seeking the Summon Spirits so that Kratos can form a pact with them? But why? For what reason?"

"You'll find out when Kratos makes his vow," Yuan simply replied and turned his attention back to the blue-winged angel. It had been a long time since Yuan last saw someone form a pact with a Summon Spirit. And that was during the Ancient War when Mithos was forming the pacts with the Summon Spirits. He had never seen Kratos doing it before, since, when they had first met, Kratos already held pacts with the Summon Spirits of Water, Wind, Fire, Earth, Ice, Lightning, Darkness and Light.

Kratos lowered his head for a few seconds, sighed, and raised his head again to face Undine. "Undine, I am Kratos. I ask that thou annulst thy pact with Sheena and form a new pact with me."

"Since Sheena has fulfilled her vow, the formation of a new pact is possible. But before I can do that, I must first test your worthiness as a pact-maker. Draw your weapons," Undine replied as she raised her water blade again, and swung it.

By that time, Kratos had already unsheathed his sword and dodged the first attack Undine threw at him.

"You want to save Heimdall, don't you?" Yuan asked Keele as he took out his polearm.

"Of course! That's why I came all the way here to look for Undine!" Keele replied, moving his arms up and down, with his bow still in his hand.

"Then fight Undine together with us," Yuan said as he began to charge a spell.

"You mean I can?" Keele asked, surprised.

"Of course. Just don't overexert yourself," Yuan replied, his spell still charging. "Otherwise, I will get hell from Kratos."

"Okay!"

Kratos parried an attack from Undine as the both of them clashed swords. But compared to the swordsman, Undine was not as skilled as the angel with a sword, and thus, he had the upper hand when it came to that. With a strong strike from his sword, Undine's water blade was knocked off, and Kratos immediately followed it up with a special attack.

"Lightning Blade!"

Kratos thrust his sword in a quick motion and blew the Summon Spirit of Water away. Subsequently after the thrust attack, a bolt of lightning was summoned from the sky and struck Undine head on.

"Thunder Blade!"

A sword with the power of lightning came down at Undine and further blew the Summon Spirit nearer to the lake. Soon after that spell, a circle of lightning appeared beneath the maiden of the mist with lightning forming above her.

"Indignation!"

A huge and powerful bolt of lightning struck down upon the Summon Spirit of Water and she was finally knocked into the lake, with her floating on the surface.

"Not bad," Undine commended as she raised her hand. "But can you survive my next attack?" The Summon Spirit summoned a wave of water and sent it flying towards Kratos. Caught off guard by this, the angel was stuck and blasted past Yuan, barely managing to skid to a halt at the end.

"Kratos!" Keele exclaimed as he went to examine the swordsman. "Are you alright?"

"Don't worry, Keele," Yuan replied as he raised his polearm in a defensive stance and eyed Undine. "He's suffered worse attacks than this and survived."

Undine did not move from her spot after her assault. Instead, she closed her eyes and concentrated on something, focusing water mana all around her.

Kratos looked up at the elf as Keele looked at the seraph with concerned eyes. Just then, he also caught sight of what Undine was doing, realisation slowly dawning on him as he watched the Summon Spirit. "That is...!"

Before Kratos could say anything else, Undine opened her eyes, raised her hand and brought it down in a swift swinging motion.

"Tsunami!"

A huge flood of water came at them. Keele could only stare at the water coming at them.

"Yuan! Fly, now!" Kratos yelled as he grabbed the elf beside him, summoned his crystal blue wings, and shot into the air, doing all that in just one second.

Keele had his eyes closed just before he thought the water was about to hit him. But after mentally counting for thirty seconds, he realised that he never got hit by any water. Instead, he felt a sudden rush of wind, then the wind stopped, then it was replaced by a gentle wind blowing on his face. It was then he decided to open his eyes.

Keele saw a giant pool of water below him, flooding the entire area around Lake Umacy. It was then he noticed that he was floating in the air. Or to be more precise, flying. _"Wait a minute! How come I'm flying?"_ After pondering for a second, the elf realised that it wasn't him that was flying, but rather, the person who was holding him that's flying. Turning his head around, he came face to face with the source of the gentle wind that was blowing on his face. The flapping of wings. Shining, crystal clear blue wings made out of mana. Then Keele turned to look at the face of the person that's holding him. _"Kratos has wings? He's an angel?"_ It was then it struck Keele where he had heard the names Kratos and Yuan.

Kratos wasn't paying much attention to the elf he's carrying in his left arm without much effort. Instead, he was scanning the pool of water for Yuan. "Yuan!" The seraph called when he couldn't find the half-elf. Then he searched the entire body of water for the other seraph again. "Yuan!" Kratos called out again, louder this time. As if in response to his second call, an explosion of water and lightning could be seen near Undine a few seconds later.

"Thunder Explosion!"

Water erupted all around Undine as Yuan slammed Gungnir into the water, sending electricity flowing towards the Summon Spirit. Undine staggered as the lightning and explosion from Yuan's attack struck her. The half-elf then flew backwards to where Kratos was holding Keele.

"Yuan! What in the name of the Giant Tree were you doing?" Kratos asked angrily.

"Hey! You know I can't call my wings as quickly as you can!" Yuan retorted, pointing an accusing finger at the swordsman. "I can't just fly at a moment's notice just because you asked me to!"

"That's exactly why I said that you need to use your wings more often!" Kratos replied, still partly angry at his centuries long friend. "It's pointless having them if you don't use them!"

"Hey! Just wha---"

"Kratos and Yuan... Heroes of the Ancient War... Companions of Mithos Yggdrasill... Angels of Cruxis..."

Kratos had completely forgotten that he was holding Keele in his left arm. It was after the elf had said that, the angel remembered he had grabbed the elf that was beside him when he had screamed at Yuan to fly and took to the air himself.

"It looks like the cat's out of the bag," Yuan said as he shrugged, crystal violet wings flapping behind him.

"Was this supposed to be a secret in the first place?" Kratos muttered as he turned to gaze at the elf in his hands. "So, we're angels. And to top it off, we are of Cruxis, who brought misery to the world by splitting the world in two and feeding the people with the the crazy 'Journey of Regeneration' story. Does that change your opinion of us?"

Keele thought about that. Did this revelation change his opinion of his two new friends? Even though he hadn't even known them for one day, he could already tell that the two angels were both good people, from the way they talked to each other, from the way they talked to him, and from their actions.

"No," Keele replied without much thought, but the reply didn't really come from his brain. It came from his heart. "Even though Cruxis did all those things, even if they did make the people and the world suffer, but it is also a fact that two of Cruxis' own helped to reunite the two worlds and finally made things right again after 4000 years..."

"But...4000 years had been far too long. It took so long for me to finally open my eyes and took the courage to make things right. I had turned a blind eye to everything, to everything Mithos did. I could have stopped him, but I didn't. My friendship towards him was far too strong...for me to betray him..."

"Kratos..."

"He wasn't the only one who looked away from all that. I too, had looked away for too long. I knew this wasn't what Martel wanted, and yet, I too, did nothing, until 4000 years later..."

"Yuan..."

Keele was at a loss for words. From young, he had always been fascinated by the stories told by the storyteller who lived at the peak at Latheon Gorge. Stories of the elves descend to this world, the planting of the Giant Kharlan Tree, tales of the Ancient War, the Heroes who stopped the Ancient War, the splitting of the world, and of Cruxis. And just last year, he went to visit the storyteller again, and he had a new tale to tell. A group of people who had reunited the two worlds, and had been aided by two other people, which were of Cruxis' Four Seraphim, former heroes of the Ancient War.

Keele reached up with his right hand and touched Kratos' cheek as he silently used his left hand to gather mana for a spell. "Kratos, you really must have loved the world and all life on it so much that you were able to cast such strong healing magic. And Yuan, despite having been kicked out of Heimdall for being a half-elf, you did not bare any hatred nor resentment against them. The both of you possess a good heart and a kind soul, and came all the way here to help me, help me save Heimdall. Perhaps, it was us elves that have turned a blind eye to everything, more than the both of you have, that's why...I can't let just the two of you fight Undine and help me save my home. I've always wanted to do something, something to help those that have helped me. That is the reason why I wear an exsphere. I can't just let the both of you do everything in this fight, thus I'm going to put all my heart and soul into this one spell."

"Keele! You can't use such a powerful spell in your state! You might die!" Kratos yelled at the elf when he saw that Keele had moved his right hand off the angel's cheek and started focusing mana into it also.

"Don't worry, Kratos. I'm not stupid enough to exhaust all of my mana in one blast and kill myself. Besides, you must have a reason for seeking the Summon Spirits. And I'm going to live so that I can hear your vow!" Keele cried as he kicked himself off from Kratos' left arm and onto a nearby rock that was jutting out of the pool of water that had flooded the area around Lake Umacy, the after effects of Undine's Tsunami attack.

Keele raised his arms high into the air just before he was about to finish changing his spell. "This is for the two selfless angels who had protected this world for 4000 long years!" Then he brought down both of his arms as he eyed Undine, and released the mana that he had gathered. "Holy lightning, become a holy blade and bring judgment to those that oppose us! Indignation Judgment!"

A circular ring appeared beneath Undine and lightning rose around her. Then a huge bolt of lightning struck the Summon Spirit continuously. A few seconds later, a huge sword made out of lightning fell on her and sent electricity running through the water it had came into contact with.

When the spell ended, Keele felt himself wobbling and couldn't maintain his footing on the rock. But before he slipped and fell into the water, someone caught him in his arms. Keele blinked and turned to look at who had saved him from falling into the electrified water. "Yuan..."

The half-elf sighed as he helped Keele regain his balance, still flying himself, so that he wouldn't end up touching the water. "That was quite reckless. Not even I dared to use it when I'm low on mana."

"You can use Indignation Judgment?"

"What? Aren't half-elves entitled to use that?" Yuan asked, feigning the look of hurt on his face.

"No, of course not," Keele simply replied and turned to look at Kratos, who was silently contemplating Keele's words and actions from just now.

"You know," Kratos finally said, as he raised his left hand, palm facing him, and began charging a spell of his own. "Seeing as how I'm the one with the right of the pact here, I cannot afford to be outdone by someone else."

Cold air began gathering around Lake Umacy as Kratos raised his hand in the air. Light blue mana, the color of the element ice, gathered in the seraph's hand as the water around them slowly started to freeze.

"The water is freezing!" Keele exclaimed as he saw the pool of water from Undine's attack starting to freeze. "What spell is this?"

_"What spell is this?"_ Yuan asked himself as he repeated the elf's question. Just recently, the half-elf had felt sudden drops of temperature in the air occasionally back at Derris-Kharlan, and then the temperature would just go back to normal as suddenly as it had dropped. Yuan had shrugged it off and took it as the mana of Derris-Kharlan acting weird, but now the temperature of the air was the same as back then. Was it Kratos who was causing the drop in temperature?

"Everlasting ice, grant me thy power, and embrace they with the unwavering power of frost! Deep Freeze!"

The entire body of water finally froze over as spears of ice rose everywhere, striking everything in their wake. The icicles pierced Undine's body of water, and slowly froze her. Soon, the Summon Spirit of Water was trapped in ice.

It was then Kratos grasped the Last Fencer with both of his hands and dashed forward, propelled by his wings, towards Undine. When the seraph reached the Summon Spirit, he raised his sword and swung it down, in a swift crescent motion.

"Crescent Wave!"

A wave of air came out from the sword swing and struck the frozen Undine, shattering all the ice that was created from Kratos' spell, revealing the Summon Spirit of Water, facing the still flying Kratos. It was to be expected, as they were over the water surface of the lake. Undine glanced at the eyes of the seraph, and gave a nod.

"I have witnessed your power. Now, make your vow."

Kratos thought hard at how he would phrase this. It was difficult, considering the fact that Verius had mentioned that it was possible that the others might not be able to sense the change in the mana flow of the Giant Tree yet. But then, the kyubi had also mentioned that since Summon Spirits are the purest source of mana, there shouldn't be a problem for them to detect it this early, since the Summon Spirit of Heart himself had detected it, so he could just try and make his vow outright.

"Right now, someone or something is tainting the mana that is given by the Giant Tree. I am trying to find out the cause of this and put a stop to it. I vow...to protect this world, for as long as I live, for the sake of creating a tomorrow that will always exist."

"That is a very good vow, with a very deep meaning to it," Undine replied as she acknowledged the vow. "Very well. I pledge my power to you, pact-maker Kratos!"

Undine disappeared in a swirl of blue light, and in its place, a aqua colored gem slowly floated down into Kratos' left hand. It was an aquamarine, the proof of the pact with the Summon Spirit of Water.

Kratos flew back to land after receiving the gem, joined by both Yuan and Keele. Yuan had flew the elf off the rock he was on. Keele had no idea that the rock that he stood on was so tall. And in his weakened state, jumping off would have been difficult, even if he had an exsphere.

"That was a wonderful vow, Kratos," Yuan commented as he crossed his arms. "That's one down and nine more to go, not counting Verius and that annoying Summon Spirit...uhh...what was his name? Secondus?"

"It's Sekundes," Kratos replied, ruffling his slightly frozen hair.

"That vow you made...from what you said...the mana of the Giant Tree is being tainted?" Keele asked, as he blinked at the two angels.

"Yes. And it will eventually kill the tree if it isn't stopped," Yuan replied. "No tree, the world dies. End of story."

"Do you know what's causing this?"

"Unfortunately, no," Kratos replied as he stopped ruffling his hair and brought his arms down. "The only thing we know is that the mana flow of the Giant Tree is being tainted. That's all."

"Any theories on this?" Keele asked, tilting his head in deep thought.

"Not yet," Kratos replied. "I would like to speak to the Elf Elder about this though. So any other queries you might have, will have to wait."

"Ah! I almost forgot the reason I was here in the first place!" Keele exclaimed as he turned in the direction of the exit from Lake Umacy. "We have to save---" But before he could say anything more and take another step further, the elf fell flat on his face. Again.

"I told you not to overexert yourself," Yuan grumbled as he helped the elf sit up. "That Indignation Judgment must have used up a considerable amount of your mana, but not enough to threaten your life."

"I guess we should rest here for a while," Kratos said as he walked over to a nearby tree, sat down and started taking some stuff out from his bag. "It would be a good time to eat breakfast."

"Alright! Breakfast! I'm starving!" Yuan exclaimed as he helped Keele over to the tree where Kratos was and helped him sit upright, leaning against the tree.

"But we have to reach Heimdall as quickly as possible! If we leave now, we can reach there in just three days!" Keele exclaimed as he turned to stare at the two angels.

"Why would it take three days to reach Heimdall when we can reach there in just a few hours by flying?" Kratos remarked as he started making some sandwiches.

"We're going to fly?"

"Yep, we're going to fly," Yuan replied as he stood up, took something out of his bag and went over to a much larger clearing that was a few meters in-front of them.

"That's great! I've always wanted to fly!" Keele remarked like an excited little kid as he looked on.

_I will protect this world, for as long as I live. That will be the vow I'll be making to all the Summon Spirits, in order to atone for my mistakes in the past, and for all the hurt and pain I've caused in the past, for the sake of creating a tomorrow that will always exist._

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Whew! Here's Chapter 2, in a flash! And Kratos makes his first pact! (Although it isn't his first time doing it...) I had initially wanted to scan some manga and finish up a few scripts for the Star Ocean Blue Sphere manga so that I can pass it to my japanese translator (and friend) so that she can quickly scriptcheck it and pass it back to me. But in the end, I decided to finish Chapter 2 of this fanfic first, while the idea is still fresh in my mind. Subsequent chapters probably won't come as fast, but I'll type whenever the idea is there, before I lose it, especially since I can never be stuck with manga scanning, translating and editing itself, which I can easily stop and continue later. I _really hate_ writer's block. 

Haha. I gave Yuan a random last name. It annoyed me that there wasn't anything in the game that mentioned Yuan's last name, and it was weird that he didn't have one while other half-elves did, so I just gave him a random last name. It just sounds weird...doesn't it? And I also gave a random date to be Lloyd's birthday! XD

Keele Silverlance is my OC and belongs to me! Mwahahaha! I had originally wanted to use this name for a main character in an original fiction of mine, but I never really got around to writing that, as I couldn't get everything sorted out and in motion. Creating an original cast of characters and a new world with its own system of sorts is actually harder than just to create a character. Well, for me anyway. (And I know that the name Keele comes from ToE. Heheheheh. Another reference from ToE, blah.)

And yes. Palmacosta and Heimdall was rebuilt. It has, afterall, been five years since the two worlds had been reunited. Also, there might be something about pact-making that might confuse you guys, so, I might as well clarify it. In this fanfic, Summon Spirits only remember the name of the person that currently has a pact with them, or the name of the previous pact-maker, and don't really remember who they had formed pacts with before that, unless they explicitly remember all their previous pact-makers, or just a few of them.

And I'll most likely (More like try to though, knowing myself) end all chapters with a random thought by a character, like I did with both chapter 1 and this chapter, in an attempt (probably a bad attempt) to give more depth and feeling to the fic.

And I need ideas for one-shots. Especially about Kratos. Now. -Bangs head on keyboard- On a side note, this chapter is really long. Hmm...


	3. The Crushing Quake of Gnome

**Angels of Cruxis**

Written by Rena Chan

Finished on 16/01/2005

**

* * *

Chapter 3 - The Crushing Quake of Gnome**

"How come you only brought two Rheairds?"

"Because there were only two of us! I thought that we won't need anymore than that!"

"Haven't I always taught you guys to always be prepared and always carry extra stuff, in case they were needed? The wing pack can at least carry ten Rheairds!"

"Why are we even arguing about this?"

Kratos grumbled. Why was he even arguing with Yuan about the number of Rheairds?

After the battle and forming a pact with Undine, the group consisting of a human, a half-elf, and an elf, made a temporary camp, minus the tents, at Lake Umacy. The main reason for this was actually for Keele to rest and regain his mana. Thankfully, due to the fact that he's an elf, Keele's body can regenerate mana much faster than humans or half-elves. Of course, that doesn't mean that both Kratos or Yuan regenerated their body's mana much slower than an elf. Because they were angels, the speed at which their bodies' mana regenerates was also the same as that of an elf.

Yuan contemplated the situation for a while. Perhaps he should have brought more Rheairds with him. The Wing Pack, as Kratos had mentioned, was able to carry up to ten Rheairds at one go. "We could stop by the Renegade Base and pick up a few more."

"Forget it," Kratos murmured, crossing his arms and mumbled a few inaudible words to himself. "I'll fly. We can always pick up more Rheairds when we actually pass by the Renegade Base. No point in sidetracking."

"Fly? As in flying with your wings?" Yuan remarked as he set about tuning up the two Rheairds and charging them with some lightning mana for the flight to Heimdall.

"Yes, fly, with my wings," Kratos replied, walking to the tree where Keele was at, sitting down on the grass and taking out a book to read. He knew it was going to take about an hour or so for Yuan to get the Rheairds ready. Then the seraph added in as an after thought. "Unlike you, I'm used to using my wings and flying long distances and periods of time."

"Hey! You don't have to rub it in!" Yuan grumbled as he checked the wiring on one of the Rheairds.

Keele finished up his sandwich and crawled up curiously to see what Kratos was reading. "What are you reading?"

"Boltzman's healing techniques," Kratos replied. This book was the very same book that they had acquired at the Tower of Mana during Colette's Journey of Regeneration. After Kratos had rejoined Lloyd and his friends for the final battle against Mithos, Raine had given him the book, saying how she didn't need it anymore as she had already gone through the entire book and knew it inside out. And seeing as how Kratos was able to use healing magic, the half-elf teacher had thought that it might be of use to him. Although anyone with elven blood or has been magically infused with Aionis can use attack magic pretty easily, those that can use healing arts were few and far between.

"Sigh, I wish I could use healing magic," Keele commented as he shifted his position to face Lake Umacy and started bouncing rocks on the water surface, leaving ripples in the water. "I just don't have the talent for it."

"Most people who can use magic don't," Kratos replied without removing his gaze from the book as he flipped to another page. "According to a theory by Boltzman, who's studied healing arts his entire lifetime, he's come to a conclusion that anyone that can cast healing magic usually has a very strong desire to protect something, and they would go through any lengths to protect those that are important to them."

"Are you like that yourself, Kratos?" Keele asked as he bounced another rock on the water surface.

"I would like to think of myself that way, but I doubt I'm really like that," Kratos replied, looking up from the book. He had started seriously improving on the power of his healing magic only five years ago. The magic swordsman had started wondering, perhaps if he had started improving on his healing arts earlier, he could have been able to save those that were important to him, he might have been able to save her. _Save Anna._ But, he had started too late. _"Better late than never...huh? It doesn't really apply here, does it?"_

"But I picture you as someone already with a strong desire to protect something important from young," Keele said, giving the angel a huge smile, breaking the seraph out of his thoughts of the past. "That is why you were able to make such a good vow so confidently in-front of Undine."

"Hmph," was all Kratos said as he turned back to read his book.

"And I still stand by the belief that the reason you are able to cast such strong healing magic is because that you love the world and all life on it very much."

"That's the third time today you've said that to Kratos!" Yuan's voice came floating in the air suddenly, interrupting the conversation between the human and elf.

"Yuan! Can't you find something better to count?" Kratos shot back, flinging a small rock at the half-elf.

"Ow! That hurt!"

Keele smiled. This was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

OoOoOoO

"Ahh! A great day for a new adventure!"

"We aren't going on an adventure, Lloyd," someone muttered from behind the Eternal Swordsman and whacked him on the head with a paper fan.

"Oww! Professor Sage! Don't do that! I'm not your student anymore!" Lloyd whined as he rubbed his head.

"You're my student as long as you're here with me," the half-elf teacher grinned as she tapped the paper fan in her hand on her right shoulder.

"Are you guys all ready?" Sheena asked as she came out of the house, followed by the others.

"I've packed all the food into the food pack," Genis replied as he checked through the food once more before calling the edibles into the pack.

"And I've got the sleeping bags and tents covered!" Colette cried as she waved her hand in the air.

Lloyd blinked at all his gathered friends. "It looks like we're all set!" Lloyd said as he punched his right fist into the air. As he scanned the faces of his friends once more, the Eternal Swordsman noticed a solemn look on both Regal's and Presea's faces. "Regal, Presea, what's wrong?"

"Umm...we..."

"We won't be able to come with you," Presea finished for the president of Lezareno.

"How come?" Raine asked as all eyes turned to look at the two.

"We just received a message stating that we are needed back at Altamira immediately," Presea explained, moving her right hand, palm facing the sky, up and down in a slow motion. "It is of great urgency that we return."

"I see..." Lloyd replied as he hung his head in sadness. After a few seconds, the Eternal Swordsman turned his head back up to look at the president and the ax girl. "It's okay, I understand!" Lloyd exclaimed as he gave them a huge smile. "Your work involves helping people, and it's more important than this visit to the Giant Yggdrasill Tree!"

"I'm sorry..." Regal apologized once more.

"No! It's fine! Really!" Colette exclaimed, clasping both of her hands together, closing her eyes and giving Regal a big smile. "We understand!"

"There's still five of us, so we'll be fine," Sheena commented as she waved a finger in-front of her face. "I may not be able to summon the Summon Spirits anymore, but I still have the Mizuho Guardians! And we still have Genis and his powerful magic!"

"You'd best be on your way," Genis urged as he stretched out and waved both of his hands in a outward motion, as if trying to shoo both Regal and Presea off.

"We'll be on our way, then," Presea replied as she turned around and waved good bye.

"We'll see you again soon," Regal said as he too, turned and walked after Presea.

"Well then," Lloyd said as he watched the both of them go. Then he punched his right fist into the air as some sort of signal to those that remained. "Let's go!"

OoOoOoO

"Wow! I'm flying!" Keele exclaimed. He had his eyes closed as the elf felt the wind rushing into his face.

"Hey! Watch where you're driving the Rheaird!" Yuan snapped at the elf as he swerved to the right before Keele's Rheaird crashed into his.

"Sorry!" Came the apology as Keele turned the speed of the Rheaird up a little, leaving the half-elf behind him in a trail of mana.

"Geez!" Yuan muttered as he slowed his Rheaird a little. "Isn't he in a rush to get back to Heimdall? How come he's enjoying this so much?"

"It's his first time flying, that's why."

"He didn't have to be so excited about it," Yuan narrowed his eyes as he turned to look at the flying angel beside him. Kratos had slowed his speed to match the half-elf's Rheaird, so that he could talk with him.

"You were this way too when you first flew on a Rheaird," Kratos commented as he turned to look in-front of him. "You weren't as thrilled when you first flew on your wings though."

"Tell me about it," Yuan muttered as he tapped his forehead on the handle of his Rheaird, remembering the horrible experience he had when he first flew with his wings. The half-elf had trusted machines more than a pair of mana wings. And so it ended up that Yuan didn't use his wings very often. The half-elf seraph did fly with his wings on occasion, but he never used them for very long distance flights nor for a very long period of time.

"We're straying too far away from the direction of our destination," Kratos muttered as he halted in mid air and slapped his right hand on his forehead. "I'd better go after that elf before he gets lost flying around in the air."

"I'll wait here," Yuan replied as he nodded towards the blue-winged angel. The half-elf watched from a distance at the speed which Kratos flew. It was so much faster and more agile than flying with a Rheaird. "Wow...I really should practice flying more with my wings," Yuan muttered as he leaned forward, crossed his arms on the handle of the Rheaird and rested his chin on them. "I could move with more speed and agility compared to flying on a Rheaird..."

OoOoOoO

Kratos, Yuan and Keele finally reached Ymir Forest. They had landed just outside the entrance, and Yuan had recalled both Rheairds into the wing pack.

"That was a wonderful experience!" Keele commented as he stretched his arms, breathing in the fresh air given out by the scents of the trees and water that surrounds the bridges which the trio stood. The elf walked forward as he pointed in the direction right in-front of him. "This way!"

"Can someone tell me why we have to walk through the Ymir Forest?" Yuan complained as he slowly dragged his feet, with his arms hanging in-front of him, and his body slightly tipped forward. "I hate walking through a forest. It looks the same to me everywhere I look..."

"Torent Forest is even bigger than Ymir Forest," Kratos replied as he walked with his arms crossed, his eyes following the elf who was at least two meters in-front of both angels.

"At least there is a bush baby that can lead us in the correct direction," Yuan countered, but not with much energy as he trailed slightly behind the human angel. "I don't know why, but I always lose my sense of direction when I'm in a forest," Yuan sighed.

"That's because a forest looks the same to you everywhere you look."

"Exactly!" Yuan exclaimed as he straightened up and slapped his right fist on his left palm. "That's exactly the problem!"

Kratos mentally grumbled to himself. Maybe he shouldn't have answered that.

"And no one has yet to answer my original question, which is, why are we walking through Ymir Forest?" Yuan asked once more.

"Have you forgotten that we have to meet with the faeries first?" Kratos muttered his reply as he walked faster to keep pace with the elf that was in-front of him.

"Oh yeah... I had forgotten about the faeries..." Yuan muttered as he continued dragging his feet as he walked, although he no longer had his body tipping forward and his arms hanging in-front. Then his face brightened up. "I've never met a faerie before! This would be exciting!"

"Very," Kratos replied in a bored tone.

The two angels felt like as if they had been walking around for eternity in Ymir Forest. Keele had led them around the forest left and right, turning at specific points in the forest. But they had turned left and right so many times that Kratos had lost count how many times they had turned left and right. Although the magic swordsman had kept his bearings, he was still in an unfamiliar part of the forest. But he had fared better than his half-elf friend. If Yuan had been alone, he really would have gotten lost. The half-elf angel had lost all sense of direction a long time ago.

"We're almost there!" Keele yelled from the front as he turned right again. "It's just after this turn!"

Yuan heaved a sigh of relief as they finally stopped walking. "Finally!" He exclaimed as he stopped to catch his breath, although the half-elf wasn't really stopping to catch his breath, but rather, trying to get his bearings straight again.

"This is Lake Cryst, home of the faeries!" Keele introduced as he stretched his right arm out, as if ushering the two angels to go in.

Kratos stared in awe at the lake in-front of him. The water was crystal clear and the sun shone on it like as if it was glittering. There was no sign of taint in the water. "Such pure water..." the seraph muttered as he approached the lake, squatted down and dipped his hand into the water, feeling it. "A place like this is truly worthy of being known only to the elves..."

"Get away from the lake, human!" A voice yelled from nowhere. A blur flew past Kratos, startling the summoner, but his quick reflexes, further enhanced by the power of his Cruxis Crystal, allowed him to dodge, unharmed.

"Why have you brought a human and a half-elf with you, elf!" The gathered faeries growled, flapping their tiny wings very quickly in anger. It was then the two Cruxis angels saw how faeries had looked like for real. They were only about two to three inches large, and each possessed two pairs of wings.

"Have you forgotten me already, kind faeries?" Keele replied as he stepped in-front the two angels. "I came seeking your help to cure the sickness plaguing the elves of Heimdall!"

"Yes...I remember you," one of the faeries replied, as it flew out among the others. "You were the elf that we asked to seek the power of Undine before we can cure the sickness plaguing the elves of Heimdall. But why have you brought a human and a half-elf with you instead?"

"That..." Keele began as he pointed to Kratos. "He's a summoner and currently holds a pact with Undine. And the half-elf is his friend."

"A summoner who holds a pact with Undine? Prove it," another faerie said as it too, flew forward.

"I guess I'll have to summon, huh?" Kratos muttered as he stretched his right hand out and concentrated large amounts of mana into it. Blue rings of mana circled and gathered all around the angel. "I call upon the Maiden of the Mist..." Then the summoner raised his right hand into the air as the large crest which symbolizes the Summon Spirits appeared all around Kratos, with him in the center. "I summon thee! Come, Undine!"

A swirl of blue appeared and converged to form the blue figure of the Summon Spirit of Water, Undine. The faeries nodded as they had confirmed with their own eyes that Kratos indeed holds a pact with Undine.

"Thank you, Undine," Kratos thanked the Summon Spirit of Water as he nodded in her direction. Undine returned the nod and disappeared in a swirl of blue mana.

After Undine disappeared, Kratos noticed that he was suddenly surrounded by the group of faeries, flying around him in a circle. "I feel like I'm being inspected," Kratos muttered as he scratched his head.

"Doesn't it make you feel special?" Yuan commented as he clasped both of his hand together in-front of his chest and closed his eyes, giving Kratos a slight smirk.

"Screw you, Yuan!" Kratos cried, flustered. He wanted to walk right in-front of his half-elf friend and personally wipe that smirk off Yuan's face, but he couldn't, as he didn't want to disturb the faeries from whatever they're doing. Keele only giggled silently at the scene before him.

The faeries finally gathered in a group again, but this time, they gathered in-front of the summoner. "You have the power of Undine. And it seems that you can also use healing magic. It should be very simple for you to heal the elves of the sickness if we grant our healing power to you."

"But before we do that, we want you to answer this question," another faerie spoke. "Why are you willing to help the elves? For centuries, humans and elves were never on good terms with each other. And the elves did nothing while you humans struggled just to live. Answer this. Why are you willing to help them?"

"Do you need a reason to help people?" Kratos replied almost immediately as he crossed his arms. Then the summoner closed his eyes for a while and opened them again, turning to look at Keele. "But if you need a reason..." Kratos continued as he turned back to look at the faeries once more. "I'm not doing this for my own gain. I'm doing this for my friend."

"You have a sincere heart and is someone who strongly values friendship," the first faerie that spoke, replied. "What is your name?"

"Kratos Aurion."

"Very well, Kratos," the faerie continued. "We will grant you our healing power."

The faeries surrounded the angel once more. But this time, all of them held their hands with each other, forming a circle around Kratos, circling around him slowly.

"Kratos, please close your eyes," one of the faeries said.

Kratos complied and closed his eyes as the faeries continued to circle around him, chanting softly in a language that only the faeries understood. After finishing their chant, all the faeries stopped circling the angel and raised their hands in-front of them, all facing Kratos. Then, a small ball of light from each of their hands appeared and slowly floated towards the seraph. As the balls of light touched Kratos' body, they immediately disappeared, as if being absorbed by his body. As soon as the last ball disappeared, the faeries broke their circle and gathered in-front of Kratos once more.

"Can you feel it?" One of the faeries asked. "Our healing power?"

Kratos blinked as he opened his eyes. He didn't know exactly what the faeries did, but he can feel a new power flowing within his body. "I can feel a new power of some sort flowing within the mana of my body..."

"You now possess our healing power in addition to your own," another faerie explained. "With it, combine it with Undine's purifying healing power and it should be enough to cure the elves of Heimdall."

Kratos nodded as he raised his right hand and gathered healing mana into it. After focusing for a while, he closed the same hand which he used to gather mana into, cancelled his spell and gave out a soft gasp. Then he turned to face Yuan and Keele. "Come on, let's be on our way and go to Heimdall."

Keele nodded and turned the other way. "Follow me. I know a quick way from here back to Heimdall." Then he started walking. Yuan quickly turned around and followed the elf, not wanting to lose sight of Keele so quickly and silently grumbling to himself at how he is going to be walking through the endless forest again.

Kratos turned to look at the faeries one last time. "Thank you again, faeries," Kratos said as he gave a quick bow to them and turned to follow his two companions.

"It has been quite a while since we granted our healing power to anyone," one of the smaller faeries said.

"Kratos will use our power well," another faerie replied.

"Yes, he will," the rest of the faeries agreed.

OoOoOoO

"We're finally out of the forest!"

Kratos, Yuan and Keele finally reached the gates of Heimdall. As they walked through the gate, Kratos surveyed the village. There was not a single life in sight. Except for the few animals and dogs that resided around the village, it was void of life. If it weren't for the fact that Kratos was able to sense the mana flow and mana signature of any living being that are nearby, the seraph would have thought that the village was empty.

"Even though I'm finally out of the accursed forest, I still feel gloomy somehow..." Yuan muttered as he shook his head at the silence sadly. "Whatever this disease is, it seems to have gone quite out of hand..."

"We'll go see the Elf Elder first," Kratos said, as he crossed his arms and turned to face Keele. "Is that okay with you, Keele?"

"It doesn't matter who you cure first, it's fine with me," Keele replied, almost muttering his reply. "It's not like I have anyone that's very important to me anyway."

Kratos blinked at the elf's reply to his question. From the way Keele had answered, and the tone in which he said his reply, something must have happened to him when he was younger, and the elf didn't want to talk about it. But Kratos let it slide. He wasn't one that poked his nose into other people's pasts, especially if it was a painful memory. And he knew it all too well. Keele would talk about it when the time comes, and he would be there to listen.

Yuan noticed this too, but not wanting to add to the gloominess of the situation, the half-elf started walking towards the direction to the house where the Elf Elder lived. "If I remember right, the Elf Elder's house is this way..."

Kratos nodded, taking the hint, as he followed his friend. "Keele, are you coming or not?"

"Of course I'm coming!" Keele replied, as he too followed suit, completely forgetting how he had answered Kratos' question. The elf didn't even realise that the two angels had noticed the tint of sadness in his voice when he replied, and his reply had hinted into something much deeper, a much deeper feeling the elf had that was unknown to the both of them.

After walking forward for a while and crossing a short bridge that spans the small river that runs through the village, the trio arrived at a junction that branched out to the left and right. Keele quickly turned to the left, and the two Cruxis angels just followed. After walking forward for some distance, passing the inn, a few houses and the windmill, they turned right and just kept walking forward. Finally they reached the door to a house and Keele knocked on it quickly three times. They had spent the entire time in silence.

"Who's...that?"

"Elder, it's me, Keele," Keele replied. "I've returned."

"Ah... Please come in, young elf..."

Keele slowly pushed the door open. After peering inside for a while, he noticed that the Elder was lying in his bed, shifting about uncomfortably and groaning. Keele quickly pushed the door the rest of the way and went in, motioning for Kratos and Yuan to come in also, stopping beside the bed of the Elder of the elves.

"You've...finally returned... Does that mean you found the cure...?" The Elf Elder coughed out slowly.

"Umm, yeah... Sort of..." Keele replied as he knelt down beside the Elder's bed.

Both Kratos and Yuan made their way to where the Elf Elder's bed stood. As the two angels stopped beside the bed, the Elder gave out a soft gasp as he recognised the two Cruxis Seraphim, former heroes of the ancient war.

"Kratos...and Yuan?" The Elf Elder said, quite visibly shocked to see the both of them here.

Without saying a single word, Kratos scanned the Elf Elder from head to toe. Then, he too knelt down beside the elf and felt his forehead. Then the magic swordsman reached for the Elder's hand and felt his pulse. Keele was taking great interest at what the blue-winged angel was doing, and followed every single one of his movements. Yuan took no interest in whatever his human companion was doing however. Instead, the half-elf was looking around the house with his arms crossed, eyes darting around, looking bored.

"High fever... Weak pulse..." Kratos muttered as he continued to examine the Elf Elder. As the angel moved his hands away, the Elf Elder coughed. "Add coughing to the list," Kratos added as he noted that.

"He would also feel pain all over his body whenever he tried to move," Keele added as he stood up. "In fact, the Elder would feel pain whenever he tried to do anything other than speak."

Kratos also stood up as he walked around the house slowly, tapping the second finger of his right hand on his chin. "Hmm... Why is it that I feel like I've seen these symptoms before?"

Puzzled by what Kratos had said, Keele turned around to look at the pacing angel with confused eyes. "Why are you worrying about the symptoms of this illness? Can't you just cast a healing spell to cure it?"

Kratos stopped pacing around the room and turned to face Keele, with his left hand on his waist and his right hand moving up and down, palm facing the ceiling, explaining something to the elf. "Keele, healing a sickness is not as simple as healing wounds, where you just use a healing spell and a wound is healed almost instantly. When dealing with sicknesses, you must first ascertain what the sickness is and the cause of it, before you can take appropriate action to cure it. There are certain sicknesses that can only be cured with herbs, and some are cured by casting a healing spell, while there are some that can only be cured with a combination of herbs and healing spells. In order to be a good healer, one must have knowledge in both the healing arts and herbs."

"But, didn't the faeries say that the sickness can be cured by combining their power with Undine's purifying healing power?" Keele asked, as he blinked at the seraph.

"Yes, they did say that," Kratos replied as he crossed his arms over his chest. "But they also said 'should be enough'. They were also not very sure whether by doing this, it would be enough to cure it. When they had granted me their power, they were also counting on the fact that I would be able to figure out another way if it wasn't enough."

"I see..." Keele murmured with his head hanging, looking at the floor. "So, until you know what is causing this, you can't completely cure it either."

"We could just take a gamble on this," Kratos added, without removing his gaze from the elf. "I cast the healing spell, and see whether it's enough to cure it. Of course, there is a possibility that it might become worse instead."

"What do you mean, it might become worse?" Keele asked, quite shocked at Kratos' reply.

"Because, there is a possibility that directly casting a healing spell might make the sickness worse, that is why I have to know what sickness this is first," Kratos sighed as he shook his head without uncrossing his arms. "If only I can recall where I've seen these symptoms before..."

"Kratos, do you remember the time when the four of us had to seek out the unicorn horn in order cure a sickness that was plaguing Heimdall?" Yuan finally spoke, saying something for the first time since he had stepped into the Elf Elder's house. If the half-elf hadn't said something, Kratos and Keele probably would have completely forgotten that he was there.

Kratos uncrossed his arms and let them hang on his sides, turning to face his half-elf friend. "Yes, I remember... Mithos had gotten really pissed off because the elves had been ungrateful for what we did after we had saved their lives. And he left Heimdall, fuming for several days..." Kratos paused as he blinked at Yuan. "Wait a minute... Are you saying that this is the same sickness?"

"I'm not too sure myself," Yuan replied as he shook his head. "I can't even remember the symptoms clearly. But I vaguely remember that the symptoms seem to be very similar..."

Kratos crossed his arms again as he closed his eyes and thought about it. About a minute later, the angel opened his eyes, uncrossed his arms and pulled out one of his item packs from his bag strapped to his waist. The item pack was similar to the wing, food and herb packs, only that it stored anything else that didn't fit into the categories which those other three packs were used for. The seraph quickly placed his hand inside the item pack which he took out, which was being used to contain the numerous books which Kratos always carried around. After rummaging in it for a while, he finally pulled out a book from it.

Both Yuan and Keele blinked at the seraph as they watched him put away the item pack into his bag, opened the book he held in his hands and started flipping through it. Yuan blinked two more times as he stared at the book in recognition. But it wasn't because the half-elf was surprised at seeing that book. It was the fact that he was wondering how could that book still be in such a good condition, especially since he always saw his human friend with that book, since the Kharlan War days when they first met.

"Umm, Kratos, that book..." Yuan started, pointing to the book the other seraph was holding.

"What's wrong with the book?" Kratos replied as he looked up from flipping through it.

"I've seen you with that book since the Kharlan War days..." Yuan sputtered, face showing confusion. "Isn't that book more than 4000 years old? How come it still looks like new?"

"Oh, that," Kratos replied as he turned back to look at the book in his hands as he resumed flipping through it. "This book has a special preservation crest placed on it, and it protects this book, to never be touched by time. That's why it looks the same as when you first saw it."

"Is that one of those crests things that only the Summoner Clan have knowledge on?"

"Yes," Kratos muttered in reply. "I drew the crest on it when I first started using it, so that it would be preserved for future use, no matter who used it."

Keele had watched this conversation unfold before him, without saying a single word of intervention. The elf wasn't too sure what that was all about, but he wasn't interested in finding out anyway. After a few more moments, Kratos promptly stopped at a page of the book he was carrying, finally finding what he was looking for.

"Here it is," Kratos muttered as he scanned the contents of the two pages he had opened up to. Curious, both Yuan and Keele walked up on either sides of the summoner, and too, glanced at what he was reading.

_**An Unknown Sickness**  
The elves of the Heimdall are being affected by a strange sickness right now. The four of us, Mithos, Martel, Yuan and I, had walked into the village without the usual elf guard at the gates. We were kind of puzzled at this, so we decided to investigate this, only to find out that they are being affected by a sickness that not even a proficient healer like Martel, knew what it was. Mithos had wanted to leave them like this at first, but Martel had insisted that we help cure them. Thus Martel had started using her Recover healing spell and tried to cure the sickness, but it only seemed to have made it worse. Then I finally decided to step in and examined one of the elves. _

**Symptoms**  
Upon examination of one of the elves and prying certain information out of them, I found out that the symptoms of this sickness were a high fever, a weak pulse, and coughing. It also appears that whenever anyone tried to move, one would also feel pain all over their body.

**Diagnosis**  
Both Martel and I had worked together, trying to find a cure for this sickness, but we weren't having much luck. But we were sure of one thing. It was spread through the air as we can feel faint irregularities with the mana in the air, and it seems that it only affected the elves. And to prove it, during our stay here at Heimdall, a couple of humans had stopped by the village to rest, and they weren't aware of the sickness that was plaguing the village of the elves. They were just normal scholars, and were passing by this village in learning, and like the elves, possessed no exspheres that could possibly strengthen their resistance against this disease which seemed to have spread like a plague. Then they finally left, still showing no signs of sickness. It was then I decided to call this sickness, "Elfus Feveorus".

**The Cure**  
In the end, Martel had decided to find the Unicorn that was rumored to be residing in Torent Forest currently. By obtaining the Unicorn Horn, Martel had hoped that by using it to strengthen her healing arts, it might be able to cure this sickness. I had decided to stay behind while Mithos and Yuan accompanied her to hunt for the Unicorn, hoping that I might be able to use certain herbs to help bring down the fever and lessen the pain the elves were feeling. After much thought, I made a stew with a mix of willow bark, lavender and acreas, and gave some to each of the elves in Heimdall. Somehow, it had helped lessen the pain and brought down the fever slightly, and that was all the strange mixture of herbs and stew did. But at least it made the elves feel better.

Finally, three days later, Mithos, Martel and Yuan returned with the Unicorn Horn in their possession. It was also on that day we no longer felt the irregularities with the mana in the air, thus we had safely assumed that the virus causing this sickness is no longer present. Then Martel proceeded to use Recover on one of the sick elves once more, only this time, her healing spell was being strengthened by the power of a Unicorn Horn. Still, it wasn't enough to completely cure the sickness. It was then I decided to try something. It was more of a gamble actually, since it was something I've never tried before. I asked Martel to use her Recover spell once more, using the power of the Unicorn Horn to strengthen it. Then I summoned Undine's healing mana and transferred it to Martel, combining them together and it formed a completely new spell. Finally, it was enough to cure the sickness. Then we went and cast this new spell, which I had named, "Purification", on all the elves of Heimdall.

**Elfus Feveorus**  
In conclusion, I can safely say using by using Purification, this sickness can be cured. In order to cast Purification, one needs to know how to use healing magic (Recover is not needed), strengthened by another strong source of healing power, like the healing power of a Unicorn Horn or the Faeries, combined with the healing mana of Undine, either from the summoner that currently holds a pact with her, or given by the Summon Spirit of Water herself, by seeking aid from her.

**Other Notes**  
There is a possibility that the stew mixed with willow bark, lavender and acreas had helped with the curing process. It also seems like the elves were struck by the sickness about a month ago from the day we no longer felt the irregularities with the mana in the air.

Yuan blinked his eyes from reading all those words Kratos had written in the book. "Is that what you write in that book? Sicknesses and cures?"

"That's right," Kratos replied as he closed the book and placed it on a nearby table. "Any sickness, diseases or viruses that I come across during my travels are all written in this book," Then the angel turned and gave Yuan a small smile. "It even has the cure to the Chronic Angelus Crystallus Inofficium written in it."

"Huh...even that is considered a sickness to you?" Yuan blinked, slightly surprised at the mention of that 'sickness', that had started crystallizing Martel's body when she wore a Cruxis Crystal. Colette was also affected by it during the 'Journey of the Reunification of the Two Worlds', or as the half-elf had named it.

"Anything..." Kratos said as he walked over to the bedside of the Elf Elder. "...that causes an abnormality inside or outside of a body, is considered a sickness to me."

"Now I finally know why you were such a proficient healer back then, and now," Yuan sighed in the sound of defeat. "Although your healing spells were no where as powerful as Martel's," Yuan continued as he let his left hand rest on his waist and used his right hand to brush his hair back. "You were a good healer because of your knowledge."

"Knowledge is power, Yuan. Remember that," Kratos muttered as he took the Elf Elder's hand. The Elf Elder in turn looked at the Cruxis Seraph with pained eyes. "Yuan, you didn't sense any irregularities with the mana in the air when we first stepped in, did you?"

"No..." Yuan replied. Then he turned to look at his human friend thoughtfully, crossing his arms. "Didn't you sense it for yourself?"

"I just wanted to make sure," Kratos simply replied as he turned to focus on trying to cast the spell, Purification.

Keele wasn't paying much attention to what the two Cruxis Seraphim were saying. He was more concerned about the sickness that had been plaguing Heimdall being cured. Throughout the conversation, he stared hard at the Elf Elder, wondering how it felt to be affected by this "Elfus Feveorus", the name Kratos had given this sickness. Right now, he had his eyes on the summoner, as he closed his eyes and concentrated.

"I call upon the healing power of the faeries..." Kratos muttered softly, barely audible. "I call upon the Maiden of the Mist..." Kratos continued as a glow lit up his hands, and a warm light started surrounding the Elf Elder. "Unite and lend me thy power, to cleanse this body of impurity..." Kratos then let go of the Elf Elder's hand which he had took hold of earlier and moved both of his hands, hovering slightly above the Elder's body. As the angel did that, strong healing mana was already gathered in both of his hands. "Purification!" Kratos declared as he transferred the healing mana into the Elf Elder's body. Finally, the Elder's body stopped glowing and Kratos stood up, backing a few steps nearer to Yuan as he watched Keele converse with the Elf Elder.

"Elder, do you feel better now?" Keele asked as he knelt beside the bed where the Elf Elder rested.

"The pain is slowly subsiding..." The Elf Elder replied in a soft whisper. As he did that, Keele shifted his hand and felt the Elder's forehead.

"The fever's going down too," Keele replied as he watched the Elf Elder close his eyes for a short rest. Then he turned to look at Kratos.

"That means it worked," Kratos replied as he retrieved the book he had left on the table, produced the item pack which contained his other books from his bag, and returned the book in his hand back into the item pack. Thereafter, he took out another book from it, put the item pack back into his bag, and started flipping through the new book he took out.

Keele recognised the book Kratos was currently holding in his hands. It was the book which contained the knowledge of Boltzman's Healing Arts within its pages, the book that Kratos was reading earlier this morning when they were at Lake Umacy.

"What are you doing, Kratos?" Keele asked, puzzled as he stared at the angel. "Aren't you going to heal the other elves?"

"No sense in wasting mana now, would it," Kratos replied as he scanned the words on the pages which he had stopped at.

"Hmm... Come to think of it," Yuan started as he tapped his second finger on his chin. "Martel took one whole day curing the elves the last time Heimdall was affected by this sickness. You only had to summon Undine once and that's it," Then the half-elf shrugged as he lowered his right hand. "You're right. No sense in wasting mana if you're able to extend the range of Purification through Boltzman's Healing Arts."

"That's exactly how I was able to extend the range for Healing Wind and Healing Stream," Kratos muttered as he lowered the book he was holding and started walking towards the door. "I think I'll call the spell, 'Restoration'."

"That's an awfully simple name," Yuan commented as he crossed his arms on his chest again.

"Would you have preferred it if I had named it 'The cure to fevers'?" Kratos replied sarcastically as he stopped walking towards the door and turned to look at Yuan.

"That's even worse," Yuan murmured as he shook his head. "Spell names are _meant_ to be simple."

Kratos decided not to comment as he turned to look at Keele. "Keele, I need to you gather the other elves at the village square. They are able to at least walk, right?"

"Umm, yeah, I think," Keele replied absent-mindedly, without much thought. "Unless the pain is too great for them, I think they can at least make it to the village square."

"Even if the pain is too great and they can't make it to the village square, we can always use our angel strength to carry them there," Yuan replied, shrugging as he uncrossed his arms.

"You're going to be the one that carries anyone who can't make it, over there," Kratos growled, glaring at Yuan as he stuck a bookmark in-between the pages that he wanted to refer back to quickly. "Not us."

"Wha? Why?"

"Because," Kratos replied as he opened the door and walked out. "I need time to prepare the spell, seeing as how this is my first time casting it."

Yuan stared at the retreating form of the magic swordsman as he silently mumbled to himself, grumbling at how Kratos was being unfair to him. When he saw that his friend had disappeared around the bend, the half-elf promptly followed, with Keele trailing closely behind him. The elf closed the door behind him as he exited, leaving the Elf Elder to rest.

OoOoOoO

"Kratos, Yuan, thank you for helping the elves of Heimdall. As the elder, I give you my sincerest thanks."

"And on behalf of all the elves, I thank you too," Keele said as he bowed slightly to the two angels. "Even though helping us does not benefit the both of you in anyway, and you had absolutely no reason to help us, the both of you still helped us anyway."

The Elf Elder, Keele, Kratos and Yuan were now back at the house of the Elf Elder, after they had gotten the rest of the elves to the village square. It was there Kratos used Restoration on them, curing the sickness on all of the elves at once.

"It was nothing, glad to be of help," Yuan replied as he rubbed his head, although he didn't do anything much except help carry any elf that wasn't able to make it to the village square.

"But, aren't the both of you supposed to be at Derris-Kharlan?" The Elf Elder asked, surprised and puzzled at the same time, as how the two Cruxis Seraphim were able to return to Symphonia without the power of the Eternal Sword.

"A Summon Spirit granted me the power to transcend space..." Kratos replied as he shook his head. "A really annoying Summon Spirit."

"Ah, I see," the Elder replied, nodding in understanding. "The same Summon Spirit that gave the Eternal Sword the power to transcend time and space, I presume?"

"Yes. The same one," Kratos muttered as he stole a glance at the golden armlet which he now possess, clasped on his right wrist. And the summoner wasn't able to take it off, whether he liked it or not.

"I'm quite surprised that this sickness struck the elves of Heimdall before, during the Kharlan War," Keele said as he shuffled about uncomfortably. "There were no records of it anywhere."

"Well, there is a record of it in Kratos' book though," Yuan shrugged, and turned to look out of the window.

"And it's most likely the only record that you can find," Kratos muttered as he closed his eyes and shook his head. "No one kept a record on any herbs and sickness that were around during the Ancient War, which seemed to have died out after the war had ended."

"But, why is there a record on the Chronic Angelus Crystallus Inofficium?" Yuan asked, without turning away from the window.

"That's because the Chronic Angelus Crystallus Inofficium had been around since the birth of the angels," Kratos replied as he crossed his arms on his chest. "I just decided to write it in my book for easy reference in the future."

"But I don't understand one thing," Keele asked as he turned to look at Kratos. "How come I wasn't affected by Elfus Feveorus? It was stated in your notes that the virus was airborne?"

"You actually remembered the weird name Kratos gave this sickness?" Yuan asked in mock surprise as he turned away from the window and faced everyone else once again. "The name sounds so weird and---" The half-elf cut his sentence short as he noticed Kratos giving him his trademarked death glare which told the former Renegade leader to shut up. "Eep!"

Keele giggled softly as he saw that. The elf had known that the two Cruxis angels were good friends, since the first time he saw them bicker. And now, he noticed that they could have been best friends, friends who knew each other very well.

"Anyway, weird names aside..." Kratos muttered as he turned his attention back to the two elves. "I think the reason that Keele wasn't affected by the sickness, was because he wore an exsphere."

"This thing?" Keele repeated as he raised his right hand and stared at the exsphere that was on it.

"As you know, when someone wears an exsphere," Yuan started explaining, as he too turned his attention to the two elves. "The physical capability of their body increases, allowing them to do things easily that they normally can't do with ease. Exspheres also strengthens the body's immune system, besides enhancing their physical capabilities."

"I believe that it was because of this that Keele wasn't affected by the sickness," Kratos added, without moving.

"This little blue orb has such amazing power," Keele muttered, eyes not leaving his exsphere. "But the way it's made..."

"You know how exspheres are made?" Yuan asked, quite surprised at Keele's former statement. It was quite evident from the expression on his face.

"Yes... They're made from the lives of others..." Keele replied softly as he let his hand drop.

"Even so, it is still no reason to just throw them away. It is the same as simply throwing the life sacrificed to make these away," Kratos said as he closed his eyes in deep thought. "Instead, think of it as borrowing the power of others. It is because of others that one becomes stronger. In essence, no one can become truly strong on their own..."

"Lecture from Kratos! Run and hide!" Yuan exclaimed suddenly and waved his arms in the air.

"Yuan, what are you trying to do?" Kratos said as he turned to look quizzically at the half-elf.

"Just trying to lighten the mood," Yuan replied as he settled down and moved the lock of hair he always had hanging on his right out of his right eye. "It was kinda getting gloomy."

"Gloomy indeed," the Elf Elder chuckled out.

"Yuan had always been the one that breaks the gloomy mood of a talk," Kratos said, as his lips curved into a small smile. "I had almost forgotten how it was like..." Kratos trailed off.

Keele had observed the two Cruxis angels close friendship with each other once again. The elf silently wished that he had a really good friend in which he could share a close relationship with, someone to share weal and woe with, someone to laugh and cry together with, someone who you could always talk to in times of need.

_"Kratos, I've got grave news. The condition of the mana flow of the Giant Tree had just gotten worse. Both you and Yuan should already be able to feel the taint that is slowly creeping into the mana that flows through the earth, and so will every other elf and half-elf that lives on this land, even though it's still quite faint."_

"This is not good..." Kratos murmured suddenly, breaking what seemed to be an eternity of silence that was currently present in the room.

"What's wrong?" Yuan asked as he turned his attention to his human friend.

"Yuan, the mana flow," Kratos replied as he shook his head. "Can you feel it?"

Yuan closed his eyes and concentrated as he focused on feeling the mana flow around him. After a few seconds, the half-elf gasped. "I can feel it. The taint, the darkness...but how did you know that if we sensed the mana flow now, we would be able to feel it?"

"Verius just spoke to me," Kratos murmured as he turned to look at the two elves in-front of him. "Try sensing the mana flow. I think you would be able to feel it too."

The two elves obeyed as they too, concentrated on feeling the mana flow around them.

"I can feel an irregularity in the mana flow," the Elf Elder said. He was the first one who had felt it, being the older and more experienced of the two elves. "It's quite faint, but if you focus hard enough, you can feel it."

"I can feel it too..." Keele said as he shook his head at the two angels. "Is this the taint you were talking about back at Lake Umacy?"

"Yes. This is exactly what is happening to the Giant Tree," Kratos replied as he ran his hand through his hair. "And it definitely isn't natural."

"Do you what's causing this to happen?" the Elf Elder enquired, stroking his chin slowly.

"We don't know," Yuan replied, turning to look out of the window. "The only thing we're sure of is that someone is causing this to happen, according to what Martel had said, and what Verius had told us."

"Martel?" the Elf Elder asked, glancing at the half-elf, wondering why Martel would still be alive when she had died more than 4000 years ago.

"Martel would be who you elves know as Mana, the Spirit of the Giant Tree," Kratos explained. "We continue to call her Martel, since the Spirit had chosen to take up the form of Martel Yggdrasill. We simply couldn't call someone who is using the spirit of Martel, Mana, especially when you're someone who knew Martel in person."

"I see," the Elf Elder replied, nodding in understanding. "I assume that it is also for this reason that the both of you are back on Symphonia?"

"Actually, Verius had sent me a vision through the form of a dream," Kratos explained, his gaze not leaving the two elves before him. "About the Giant Tree dying, under the instruction of the Summon Spirit of Time. As I've explained before, he was the one who gave us the means to come back to Symphonia from Derris-Kharlan. As for why, we do not know."

"Hmm...of all the Summon Spirits, he's the most unpredictable," the Elf Elder mused, as he stroked his chin. "It's probably because he has the power to see the future."

"That is exactly why he is so troublesome," Kratos muttered under his breath, and gave out a huge sigh.

Silence fell across the room once again. Keele, who wasn't very sure what was going on, dared not say a word, as he knew nothing. The elf had only learned that the Giant Tree was dying through Kratos' vow to Undine. Everything else he knew, were sketchy.

"So, what are you going to do about it right now?" the Elf Elder asked, the first one to break the silence.

"We are currently seeking the other Summon Spirits and forming pacts with them under the suggestion of Verius," Kratos replied as he sighed, shaking his head once again. "I was hoping that the elves might have a record in their history of how the mana of the Giant Tree could possibly be tainted, that might be able to help us go in the correct direction."

The Elf Elder silently thought about what Kratos had said while pacing slowly around the room. After for about a minute, he stopped and turned back to face the summoner. "Our records have no such event happening in the past," he finally said. "But why was this 'dream' sent to you, and not Lloyd? He is the one with the pact and responsibility to protect the Giant Tree."

"That is exactly what puzzles us," Yuan finally said, having not talked for a few minutes already. "The Summon Spirit of Time, which I can't seem to get the name right, had told Verius that they, meaning the Summon Spirits, needed his power as a high summoner."

"Hmm..." the Elf Elder murmured softly, in silent contemplation. "Kratos, you're a high summoner, which means that you can call upon the true power of the Summon Spirits. Perhaps the key to stop all this lies in their true power."

"That is the reason why Verius suggested to us that we seek a pact with the Summon Spirits," Yuan replied, crossing his arms. "Just in case this was the case."

"Even after discussing this much," Kratos sighed as he hanged his head. "We're still back to the same conclusion."

"But it's quite obvious that the Summon Spirit of Time knows something we don't," Keele finally spoke up, fully understanding the current situation.

"That is one thing that we all agree on," Yuan replied as he turned to look at Kratos, who was shuffling about for no reason. Given the expression on his face and his actions, it was quite obvious to the half-elf that the summoner was currently very annoyed, having been around him longer than anyone else alive. It must have been a great feat that he hadn't slipped into speaking the angelic language yet.

"I'm sorry that I wasn't of much help," the Elf Elder said as he went over and sat in his chair. "But maybe I can help you with a possible location of a Summon Spirit."

"Really?" Kratos replied, turning to look at the Elf Elder, his face seemingly brightened up as he stopped shuffling about and looking annoyed.

"Just before Heimdall was affected by the sickness," the Elf Elder started, as he realised that he had gotten Kratos' attention. "One of the elves had went over to Moria. During the trip there, he had felt a very high concentration of earth mana at Toize Valley Mine, which would have meant that the Summon Spirit of Earth was there," the Elf Elder continued. "But currently, we do not know whether the Summon Spirit is still located there."

"It's fine," Kratos sighed as he looked at the floor. "We can always just check it out. Right now, we do not have any other leads anyway."

"Very well," the Elf Elder replied. "Oh yes, I have arranged for food and lodging for the both of you at the inn. Please accept it as a token of our thanks."

Yuan turned to look at Kratos, who in turn, looked back at the half-elf. Yuan blinked his eyes, tilted his head and shrugged, as if trying to communicate with Kratos through the expressions on his face and the actions of his body. The summoner shook his head annoyingly at the half-elf as he understood what Yuan was trying to say. It was his call, to make the decision for the both of them.

Not wanting to turn down the Elf Elder, Kratos turned back to face him and nodded. "Alright. Since it's already quite late into the afternoon already, we'll stay for the night." But the truth is, Kratos had wanted to get over to the Toize Valley Mine as quickly as possible. But what he wanted more was for the relationship between humans, elves, half-elves that has been established in Heimdall to remain that way, and improve more over time. The angel didn't want Lloyd and his friends' efforts to go to waste. They had already took great pains for the elves to finally allow anyone into Heimdall freely, both humans and half-elves included, as long as they did not cause any trouble. This had been one of the first steps taken to truly clear all discrimination that are existent on this world.

Keele was shuffling about uncomfortably, as if he wanted to say something, but was unable to find the voice to. The elf was undecided as to whether to ask Kratos and Yuan that question. Of course, Keele's uncomfortable movements were noticed by both Cruxis angels, which is partly the reason they hadn't made their way out of the house yet. After a full minute of silence, Kratos got impatient and was the first one that broke the silence, trying to lead the elf into speaking what's on his mind.

"Umm...actually..." Keele started slowly, trying to find the words as he finally decided to ask his question. "Can I come with the both of you on your journey to save the Giant Tree?"

"It's going to be quite dangerous, even if you have an exsphere," Kratos replied as he crossed his arms. He had actually expected that question. It was quite evident, given the elf's hesitation to ask the question that was on his mind.

Keele's face immediately fell. As his face turned into an expression of disappointment, the elf softly muttered out, saying something that would be inaudible if one was too far away. "I won't get in your way, if that's what you mean..."

Kratos sighed and shook his head after Keele had said that. "That wasn't the actual intention of my reply..."

Yuan cocked his head to the side as he looked at his friend. Then he turned to face the elf. "What Kratos actually means is that, it's going to be dangerous, even for someone with an exsphere. Even though we're angels, it might be dangerous for us too, since we have no idea what we're dealing with."

Keele let his gaze fall on the serious expression on Kratos' face as he searched for an answer to his question. After looking hard enough, the elf realised that the angel had partly wanted him to come, and partly wanted him to stay as Kratos was worried that this journey would turn into something very dangerous, and he didn't want Keele to get hurt, and possibly lose his life in the process. Then Keele understood. Whether he gets to go with them would depend on his answer, and whether the elf was prepared to take the risks involved.

"I'm...prepared to take the possible risks involved," Keele finally replied.

Kratos nodded as he turned and started walking towards the door that marked the exit out of the house. "Very well, you can come with us. We could use a dedicated spellcaster anyway." The summoner paused as his hand took hold of the door knob. Then he turned to look at Yuan. "Especially since Yuan had forgotten how to be one," he added. Then the angel opened the door hastily, seemingly trying to escape from the half-elf as Yuan realised what Kratos had said.

"Kratos!" Yuan screamed as he hurriedly walked out of the house, and started chasing the escaping blue-winged seraph, if walking after someone can be considered chasing them, that is.

Both Keele and the Elf Elder blinked at the two retreating Cruxis angels. "Are they like this when around each other?" the Elf Elder asked as he turned to look at the younger elf.

"I think so...even though I haven't been with them for a very long time yet," Keele replied as he scratched his head, then shrugged. "But I think it's normal for the both of them. It only symbolizes how close their relationship with each other as friends are. If you look close enough, you'll realise that no words were needed between the both of them to get their thoughts across to each other. And I think it's a great advantage in battle..."

"You yearn for a friend like that, do you not?" the Elf Elder asked as he stared hard at Keele.

"I..."

"I hope that you will be able to find friends like those two by being with them, even if the friends that you seek end up being the both of them," the Elf Elder said as he stroked his chin. "I wish you good luck."

"Thank you, Elder," Keele replied as he bowed, out of politeness to the Elf Elder. "I will take my leave now." The elf made his way towards the door and closed it behind him as he left the house.

OoOoOoO

"The stars are so beautiful tonight, aren't they, Noishe?"

Noishe gave a soft whine in reply.

"Looking at the stars, Lloyd?"

Lloyd turned to the voice of the one who called him. "Hey, Colette, aren't you helping Genis with the cooking?" Lloyd asked as he acknowledged the presence of Sylvarant's former Chosen of Mana.

"Nah, he said Sheena's help was more than enough," Colette replied as she sat down beside Lloyd and turned to look up at the sky. "The stars are really pretty tonight."

"Yeah, they are..." Lloyd trailed off, with the expression on his face lined with that of sadness.

Colette noticed this as she turned to look at Lloyd. Closing her eyes for a few seconds and nodding slightly, the former Chosen spoke up. "You're thinking about him, aren't you, Lloyd?"

"Yeah..." Lloyd replied as he shifted his legs up, hugging them with his arms and resting his head on his knees. "Everytime I look at the stars, I always think of him. It's just... I really want to be with him, and spend our lost fourteen years with each other, catching up on things..." Then the Eternal Swordsman sighed. "I shouldn't have let him go... I should have convinced him to stay..."

"Do you regret your decision to let him go?" Colette asked, eyes turning soft with concern, placing an arm around Lloyd's back.

"I do... I really do..." Lloyd murmured. "This is the only choice I had regretted making my entire life. At first, I thought I didn't need him. But now..."

"You're having second thoughts," Colette summarized for the swordsman as she moved her arm off Lloyd's back. Then she turned to gaze at Lloyd as she thought of something. "Why don't you go see him?"

"I...can't, I promised him that I wouldn't...use the Eternal Sword for my own personal agenda..."

"Oh, Lloyd," Colette said as she gave Lloyd a smile. "Why did you make a promise like that? You know that you will never break your promises, so if someone asks you to promise them something..."

"I will always keep them," Lloyd replied. "He knew that, that's why he made me promise."

"Oh, Lloyd," Colette said once again as she reached out to give Lloyd a hug. This sudden action caused Lloyd to flinch for a few seconds, after which, his body relaxed as his mind registered what just happened. "I'll be here for you if you ever need any comfort."

"Colette...thank you..." Lloyd replied as he turned to look at the stars again while Colette continued to hug him.

"Everyone! Dinner's ready!" Genis' voice came floating through the air.

Colette broke off from her weird embrace over Lloyd and turned to look back at the others. She cocked her head slightly to the side as she noticed something in the girls' tent. Then the former Chosen turned to look at Lloyd. "I'd better go and get the Professor away from the artifacts that we found this afternoon, otherwise she's going to end up not taking her dinner tonight."

"Yeah," Lloyd replied as he gave Noishe a quick pat as he watched Colette walk towards the area where their tents were pitched. "Come on, Noishe, let's go eat."

The arshis stood up in response and followed his master.

OoOoOoO

Keele slowly opened the door to the room at the inn where the two Cruxis Seraphim were staying for the night. After opening the door wide enough, the elf slipped in, closing the door softly behind him. Then he paused and surveyed the room before him. Yuan was at the table, his dinner half-eaten beside him, as he was seen tinkering with some sort of small sized machine, with his notebook lying in-front of him. Kratos was sitting on his bed, facing the window with his arms resting on the window sill, staring at the stars, as if he was star gazing, as the angel absent-mindedly carved something out from a piece of wood with a knife in his right hand. His dinner laid eaten at the top of the small cabinet of drawers where a lamp stood.

Keele slowly walked over to the other bed and sat down on it. "Thank you for letting me come with the both of you..." the elf said suddenly, breaking what seems to be silence in the room, save for the sound of Yuan's working tools, the occasional sound of sparking wires, and the almost silent scraping from Kratos' crafting.

Kratos finally turned away from the window, bringing with him the piece of wood and knife he was holding. The angel then sat crossed legged on his bed, with his back facing the pillow, as he focused more on his craftwork. "You have a reason for wanting to come, don't you?" Kratos said as he acknowledged the elf's presence.

"Was it that obvious?" Keele replied sheepishly, right hand rubbing the back of his head.

"I could tell when you looked at my face, trying to read the expression I had on it," Kratos replied as he rubbed on the wooden figurine with his fingers to brush off any excess dust left during crafting.

"It's so hard to keep things from you..." Keele muttered as he sighed and turned to stare at the floor.

"Correction," Yuan spoke up without looking up from what he was doing. "It should be, it's so hard to keep things from people who have lived as long as we have."

"It was really that obvious, huh?" Keele muttered.

"For us, it was easy. As for other people, it would depend on the person's power of observation and their ability to read into the feelings of others," Yuan replied as he grumbled softly to himself, setting down what he was holding in his hands, and took another bite from his unfinished dinner. The half-elf then turned to flip through his notebook, seemingly looking for something on it.

"I..."

"You don't have to tell us the reason if you don't want to," Kratos replied as he sighed and set the figurine on the desk beside him, and started rummaging through his item pack which contained his books. After searching for about a full minute, the summoner finally pulled out a book from it. "Hey, Yuan, turn around."

"What for?" Yuan replied, with a seemingly annoyed tone in his voice. But the half-elf decided to turn around anyway, curious as to why Kratos had asked him to do that.

"Catch," Kratos said as he saw that Yuan was looking at him. Then he tossed the book in his hand across, towards his half-elf friend, who caught the book easily.

Yuan frowned at the book which he had caught in his hands. "You brought this book with you?"

"I thought you might need it," Kratos replied as he watched the half-elf go through the book.

"The heck I do," Yuan muttered. The half-elf turned back and faced the table as he found the page he was looking for on the book that Kratos had passed him. Then, while holding down and looking at the book in his right hand, Yuan worked with his left hand on the small machine that was left on the table, doing some sort of wiring and rewiring on the contraption.

Satisfied that Yuan was now working contentedly on his gadget, Kratos picked up the unfinished wooden figurine he had left on the desk, picked up his knife once again, and resumed his crafting.

"Actually, the reason I wanted to come with you..." Keele started, as he noticed that the two angels were silent once again, occupied with what they were doing. Kratos looked up from his crafting, somewhat unsure of what he wanted to carve next, and turned to focus on the expression Keele had on his face, as if trying to read his thoughts. "...is to look for my brother."

"You have a brother?" Kratos murmured as he turned back to his craftwork once more, not quite taken aback by the elf's reply.

"Actually, he's only my half-brother..." Keele murmured in reply, fingers fidgeting uncomfortably. He wasn't sure why he was telling the two angels something that only he himself knew. No one else in Heimdall knew about this. And the elf couldn't trust anyone with it either, not even the Elf Elder, as the blood of his half-brother was, as the elves put it, impure. Although, this was no longer the case anymore since the reunification of the two worlds five years ago, the elf still didn't feel safe entrusting anyone with his secret. Some of the elves that lived in Heimdall still bore slight discrimination towards those not of pure elven blood.

"Your brother is a half-elf, isn't he?" Kratos asked suddenly, interrupting Keele's thoughts, as the angel paused his craftwork, trying to contemplate what the elf was thinking.

"H...How did you guess?" Keele stammered, taken aback by the summoner's power of observation, again.

"It's the only possible explanation, if you think carefully about it," Kratos replied as his hand that was holding the knife, started moving again. "There shouldn't be a reason for an elf to have a half-brother unless the brother was a half-elf."

"That would also explain a lot why you don't bare any discrimination against half-elves and hatred towards humans," Yuan muttered without turning from what he was doing. One would think that the angel wasn't paying attention to the conversation, but Yuan, like Kratos, were trained to listen to their surroundings without turning away from what they're doing.

"Ever since I found out that I have a half-elf brother, I've started wondering, exactly, just what made elves, half-elves and humans so different?" Keele said, as he leaned back on the bed with his arms supporting his weight, turning to look at the ceiling. "The only thing that made us different is the blood that flows within us. And yet, at the same time, we are all the same. Living, breathing beings, all living and walking on the same land that we call home..."

"Such is the weakness of the heart," Kratos replied, his eyes and body not moving, save for the hand that was being used to craft his wooden statuette. "People fear that which they do not understand. Instead of making an effort to understand, they simply find it much easier to shun and hate instead."

"Is that so... That is so sad..."

"And yet, there are still people in this world that tries to understand," Yuan commented as he leaned his head back at stared at the ceiling, still trying to figure out why his small gadget still wasn't working. "Kratos...was one of them."

Both Kratos and Keele turned to look at the half-elf as he turned around slowly, and focused his gaze on the only human he had ever called 'friend'. After staring at each other for a few seconds, Kratos finally broke the silence, asking whether Yuan had meant what he said.

"If I hadn't met you, my opinions of humans probably would have never changed. I would probably still be wondering why are all humans the same. It was you that led me to believe that not everyone was like that. Come to think of it, it's actually the same for half-elves. Not all are good and nice, but not all are bad and evil at the same time. You had taught me that one shouldn't condemn an entire race just because of the actions of a few."

"And yet, not all think the same way. And in the end, most people just find it easier to condemn everyone," Kratos replied, shaking his head sadly. "But at least, after 4000 years, things are finally looking up. More people are now trying to understand, rather than to shun and hate."

"The world is finally beginning to look better to live in, I can only hope that the mistakes of the past will never be repeated again as time passes," Yuan murmured as he turned back to his table, still racking his brains at what could possibly be preventing the contraption he was working on to not work.

"I hope so too..." Kratos replied in silence.

The both of them had seen too much in their entire lifetime. Cursed with eternal life, they were getting quite tired of it all. And they couldn't reverse the effects of stopping their bodies' internal clock even if they wanted to. If it weren't for the fact that they were friends, the two angels probably would have lost their sanity a long time ago.

"I'm going to go back to my house," Keele said, as he stood up from the bed. "I haven't even packed yet!" He exclaimed sheepishly. Then the elf started to make his exit. After Keele had left the room, Yuan turned around to look thoughtfully at Kratos.

"What do you think of him?"

"As you had thought, he _is_ different from other elves," Kratos replied, staring at his finished figurine. "And, I also think that he is trying to understand the two of us."

"Is that so?" Yuan replied as he turned back to his table and picked up the machine in his hand again.

"Yes, I think so," Kratos replied as he put away the wooden figurine which he had just finished crafting. "I'm going to turn in early," the summoner added as he slipped under the blanket on his bed.

"Yeah, and I'm going to continue wondering why can't I seem to get this thing to work," Yuan mumbled miserably.

"Yuan," Kratos' voice came as a reply. It was a bit muffled due to the blanket, but it was still understandable. "Why don't you look at it from a different angle? Maybe you will find the answer to your question."

Yuan immediately turned the gadget in his hand around, looking at it from different angles as Kratos had suggested. After a few minutes, he finally saw what could be wrong, then set about flipping through the book that the other angel had passed him earlier, stopping at the page he wanted. The half-elf then frowned as he realised what was wrong with his machine.

"How could I have been so dumb?" Yuan murmured. Then he decided to turn his head around and started to say a word of thanks to Kratos, but he realised that his friend was already asleep. But he still said it anyway. "Thanks, buddy." Then he turned his head back to face his soon to be completed machine.

Kratos turned in his bed as if in response to Yuan's thanks.

OoOoOoO

"Here, Kratos, this is for you."

"What is this?" Kratos asked as he took the handheld device which Yuan handed over to him.

"It's a portable communication device," Yuan explained as he brandished one that was for his own use. "It has a build in radar that detects signs of mana signatures from a distance. It also has an automatic map making function that maps places you've been to, and automatically updates the map if the map data collected differs from its stored image."

Kratos frowned as he flipped opened the communication device. As the machine opened up, it responded with a "beep" and the screen lighted up. "Is this what you've been working on?"

"Of course," Yuan replied as his faced beamed brightly. "This is my best work yet. It's a clever combination of ancient and recent magitechnology. And the best thing is, it's powered by a small piece of Aionis, which absorbs mana from it's surroundings," the half-elf explained. "Thanks to the discovery of how to reduce mana usage on machines, it only needs very small amounts of mana to run, so, it's energy conservant. I call it the 'Portable Communication Navigator', or PortNav for short." Yuan then stuffed his PortNav into his bag as he finished explaining the details to the other angel.

"Very convenient gadget you've made," Kratos said as he pressed some buttons which turned up the map of Symphonia. The summoner frowned as he scanned the map very quickly. "Isn't this the map of Symphonia before the two worlds were separated 4000 years ago?"

"Yeah, what do you expect? I don't have the latest map of the world to store in it," Yuan murmured as he scanned the area for Keele. The two Cruxis angels had been standing near the entrance to Heimdall, all packed and ready to go an hour ago, and had already eaten their breakfast. Now, they stood awaiting the elf's arrival, so that they could be on their way towards Toize Valley Mine, which the Elf Elder had mentioned yesterday, where Gnome, the Summon Spirit of Earth, could be located currently. "Besides, didn't you use the same map of Symphonia to use your spell back at Luin?"

"That's true," Kratos replied as he closed his PortNav and put it into one of the smaller pockets in his bag. "Well, if it updates the map automatically, then there wouldn't be any problem, right?

"Of course not," Yuan replied as he stretched his arms. "Ancient magitechnology created for map making is simply the best! None of the current map making technologies can even compare!" Then the half-elf turned to regard his human friend seriously. "But, if it weren't for your advice and the book you brought with you, I wouldn't have been able to finish it up last night."

"Hey! Kratos! Yuan! Sorry to keep the both of you waiting!"

The two Cruxis angels turned towards the voice of the person that had called them. It was Keele, and he was dashing towards them, waving his right arm at the same time. The elf was wearing a different set of clothing from yesterday. This time, he was in a white, almost sleeveless vest, zipped up in the middle, lined with blue edges at the end of the sleeves and the entire length of the zip. He was still wearing the same pair of brown gloves from yesterday on his arms, with his exsphere attached on his right hand. Keele was wearing a pair of blue pants with his bag and quiver of arrows strapped around his waist. On his feet, he had donned on a pair of brown boots, and his bow was slung over his back.

"I'm ready to go!" Keele cried enthusiastically as he stopped in-front of both angels. After scanning their faces for a while, the elf noticed Yuan was looking at him incredulously. "What's wrong, Yuan? Is there something on my face?"

"No... It's just that..." Yuan stammered as he pointed at the elf. "You're carrying very little stuff! I mean... When I was kicked out of Heimdall... Isn't this your first time travelling? How did you know you only need to carry what you need?"

"What? Am I not supposed to?" Keele replied as he gave Yuan a nervous smile. "It's the first rule of travelling, is it not?"

"I...uhh..."

"It goes to show, Keele had more common sense than you when it came to travelling," Kratos smirked as he crossed his arms, seemingly trying to mock his half-elf friend.

Yuan turned to face the summoner. "Kratos!"

"I think we should quickly get moving just in case we miss Gnome!" Keele exclaimed, while still desperately trying to figure out what was up with Yuan.

"Keele's right," Kratos replied as he saw Yuan puff up his cheeks, a sign of childish anger. "And Yuan, you're more than 4000 years old. Are you sure you should still be performing childish acts like this?"

Yuan just huffed and turned away. If the half-elf didn't know better, he would have thought that Kratos was teasing him. But, he had always been like this. Very much like how Kratos slips into speaking the angelic language when he was annoyed or frustrated, it was the same for him. But, when it was time to be serious, they could be really serious, but when it wasn't time to be serious, the two angels could be completely different from their serious demeanor, which would only show if the both of them are around each other.

"Come on, we _really_ should get going," Keele laughed nervously as he continued staring at the antics of the two Cruxis Seraphim.

Taking Keele's advice, Yuan had decided to start walking forward into the Ymir Forest, when he suddenly paused before either Kratos or Keele could follow. "Are we going to go through the forest again?" Yuan asked as he turned around to face his two other companions.

"What's wrong? Worried that the forest would eat you up?" Kratos half muttered sarcastically.

"No! Can't we just fly over the forest or something?" Yuan replied nervously.

"We need to conserve the energy on the Rheairds, which means, we should not use them as we please, at least not until I've formed a pact with Volt," Kratos answered as he sighed. "So, either you walk, or you use those wings of yours to fly over the forest. Take your pick."

Yuan's eyes darted between Kratos and Keele as they waited for the half-elf to make his decision. After pondering for a minute, Yuan's eyes stopped at Keele and pointed to him. "Take us through Ymir Forest using the shortest way possible!" Yuan commanded the elf with an authoritative tone in his voice.

"Yes sir!" Keele replied playfully as he went along with it, and putting his right hand up at his forehead in the form of a salute. Then he started pointing the way while the elf walked in-front, with Yuan following closely behind him.

Kratos shook his head as he sighed, slowly trailing behind Yuan and Keele as he followed them from a distance. The angel knew this part of the forest well, so it wouldn't matter if he was a little bit behind his other two companions. But Kratos had barely took five steps forward before he heard the Elf Elder calling him.

"Is anything the matter, Elf Elder?" Kratos asked as he stopped for the oldest elf in Heimdall and waited for him to catch up.

"Kratos, it seems that you have good knowledge of herbs, no?"

"Yes," Kratos nodded as he blinked curiously at the Elf Elder.

"Then, take these with you," the Elf Elder said as he handed Kratos a brown pouch which the angel readily accepted. "The pouch contains some Mana Leaf Herbs and several other rare herbs that can only be found in Latheon Gorge, Ymir and Torent Forest, in small amounts. It might come in handy."

Kratos opened the pouch and took a peek at the contents within. After taking a quick glance, the angel promptly closed it and put it in his bag. "Thank you."

"I wish you a safe journey, and I hope that you will find the cause of the mana taint and put a stop to it, no matter what."

"I will," Kratos replied. Then he quickly turned around and sprinted towards his two other companions, who did not seem to have noticed his conversation with the Elf Elder, and were quite a distance ahead of the summoner.

"Good luck...to the three of you, Kratos, the human, Yuan, the half-elf, and Keele, the elf. May you find the one responsible for tainting the mana of the Giant Tree, and also let the friendship I foresee, forming between the three of you, end all discrimination on this land..." The Elf Elder silently whispered to the retreating human, elf and half-elf.

OoOoOoO

The walk towards Toize Valley Mine had been uneventful mostly. Occasionally, a monster or two would come and attack them, but the trio easily dispatched them all. Well, actually, it had been just both Yuan and Keele killing the monsters, using their strong magic to dispatch all monsters that got in their way within a few seconds. Kratos had did nothing but walk and stare into the sky.

"Your magic power is really strong, is it not?" Yuan asked as he tried to make conversation with Keele, trying to get to know his new companion better.

"Of course! I am the strongest magic user in Heimdall!" Keele replied proudly. "Somehow, I feel that fact alone is more than enough to make up for my lack of the ability to use healing magic."

"At least you got powerful magical power to make up for that," Yuan muttered as he sighed. "I don't have anything to make up for my lack of the ability to use healing magic."

"No!" Keele exclaimed as he stared at the half-elf, with his hands clenched into fists and raised to his shoulders. "From what I see, your magic power is really strong too! And you can heal with gels! I can't use gels properly even if my life depended on it!"

"But your magic power is still stronger than mine!"

"Your skill with gels are more than enough to cover that!"

Yuan and Keele's arguments had continued until they had reached the entrance to Toize Valley Mine. The mine had been closed by the Lezareno Company five years ago and was abandoned. This place used to be an exsphere mine, where dormant exspheres were excavated. This was also the place where Inhibitor Ore was the most abundant in amount. Thus, whenever anyone needed Inhibitor Ore, they would come here to get it.

"Hey! Look! Inhibitor Ore!" Keele exclaimed as he dashed over, picked some up in his hands, and promptly stuff them into his bag. "Might come in handy!"

Kratos had already whipped out the PortNav from his bag, quickly putting it to good use. The summoner activated the radar function, and it detected a mana signature somewhere deeper in the mine.

"Could that mana signature be Gnome?" Yuan asked as he peered at the radar on Kratos' PortNav.

"We'll just have to go closer to find out," Kratos replied as he started walking forward, with Yuan trailing behind. Keele followed them a few seconds later, after ensuring the Inhibitor Ore he took was securely in his bag.

"Kratos, you seem to be lost in thought just now."

Kratos turned to glance at Yuan, then turned back to concentrate on the radar of his PortNav and the direction he was walking. Keele was turning his head around, looking at the walls, rocks and machines all around him in wonder.

"I was thinking of how I should deal with Gnome," Kratos answered. "He's the most undignified among the Summon Spirits and doesn't like fancy words or stuff."

"Yes, I remember. He was practically demanding that he gets to fight Mithos one-on-one, in an undignified manner. I can't believe that the kid actually accepted it."

"I first time I had to deal with Gnome, I was surprised. My father had never told me that Gnome was like that." Kratos turned and looked at Yuan with a smile. "When I was battling Gnome at that time, he had been so annoying the entire battle. I literally got so annoyed at him and I just high summoned Sylph and beat the crap out of him."

"Whoa! You high summoned?" Yuan exclaimed, looking at Kratos excitedly. "I wish I could have saw that! I want to see you high summon!"

"You might actually have to wait before that can happen," Kratos replied, shaking his head at the half-elf. "I hardly high summon. And even if I did, it would require a good reason to do so."

"A reason? What reason?"

"It's emotionally related," Kratos simply replied. "High summoning is partly driven by emotion."

"I think I understand," Yuan said as he thought about the summoner's reply. "At that time, you were really annoyed with Gnome, so you were driven by annoyance and high summoned."

"Yes, that's right." Kratos then promptly stopped as he stole a glance at the PortNav. "The mana signature is right in-front of us."

"Yes, Gnome is here," Keele said as he stepped forward a bit. "I can feel the high concentration of earth mana here."

"So can we."

Kratos closed the PortNav in his hand and replaced it in his bag. Then he walked forward, calling for Gnome. The ground shook slightly as stalagmites appeared from the ground, and the brown figure of Gnome emerged from it.

"Hmm, so, you're a summoner, isn't that right?" Gnome asked as he saw Kratos staring up at him. "Well, I'm sorry, but I've already got a pact with someone named Sheena, k?"

Kratos mentally grumbled to himself as he tried to figure out the words to use that wasn't defined as "stuffy language" to the Summon Spirit of Earth. But exactly what words were in Gnome's dictionary that wasn't defined as that? Kratos then decided not to worry about it too much and just beat the crap out of him again, should the Summon Spirit annoy him.

"Gnome! My name is Kratos. I ask that you annul your previous pact with Sheena and form a new pact with me."

"Wow! You're the first summoner that didn't use stuffy language!" Gnome exclaimed. "But then, you've already dealt with me before, so I didn't expect you to make the same mistake again, right?"

Kratos mentally grumbled in his head as he glared at Gnome. The summoner was already partly annoyed at the fact that he had to reword the sentence that he always used whenever he had to form pacts. And now this? What was going to happen next? Gnome complaining about the fact that he had high summoned Sylph to beat him the first time?

"Yeah! You were the one that high summoned Sylph to beat me the first time you wanted to form a pact with me! Since then, I made it a point to remember you! The one who unfairly high summoned Sylph to beat me!"

"Geez, you really are a sore loser, aren't you, Gnome?" Yuan stepped forward in the defense of his human friend. "You weren't this bad when you dealt with Mithos! Now you're beginning to annoy me too!"

Kratos scowled in annoyance as he raised both of his arms in a surrender, as his prediction came true. "Look, that high summoning using Sylph won't happen again, alright? I don't have a pact with Sylph right now."

"What? No pact with Sylph? I guess that's fine then," Gnome replied. Then he pointed his shovel at an annoyed looking Yuan and a dumbfolded looking Keele. "Will they be fighting with you?"

"Yes, they _are_ going to fight with me," Kratos replied, unsheathing the Last Fencer. Beside him, Yuan summoned his Gungnir and Keele started preparing a spell behind them.

"You do know what that means, right?" Gnome asked. "Since, you know, you're a high summoner."

"Of course I do! Let's just get started already!" Kratos cried as he swung his sword in an upward arc.

"Alright! Just bring it on!" Gnome screamed as he blocked Kratos' sword swing with his shovel.

"Atlas!" Keele declared as he let loose the wind spell he had been charging at Gnome. Blades of air slashed the Summon Spirit of Earth quickly and rapidly, forcing Gnome to stagger backwards, away from what seems to be a deadlock between Kratos' earlier sword swing and his parry from it.

Yuan stepped beside Kratos and looked at him. "Let's do a Unison Attack. It's been a long time since we did one anyway, and we'll show how annoyed we are at him," Yuan whispered.

Kratos nodded without replying to the half-elf. Instead, the summoner dashed forward in quick steps, and Yuan simply followed suit. Keele fired an Air Thrust at Gnome to back the two charging angels up.

"Hurricane Thrust!" Kratos declared as he reached Gnome, thrusting his sword forward quickly, with a circle of wind appearing at the end of his thrust.

"Tornado Slash!" Yuan declared as he slashed Gnome, right after Kratos' Hurricane Thrust. After delivering a downward slash with the front end of his polearm and a slash across with the back end of it, a small tornado blew from below Gnome, making the Summon Spirit stagger.

"We'll show you...our power!" Both Kratos and Yuan declared at the same time as they stood side by side, weapons raised. "Tornado Hurricane Strike!"

Keele watched in awe as the Unison Attack by the two Cruxis Seraphim unfolded before him. _"So... This is what they call a Unison Attack, executed by two people, each choosing to use one of their techniques, then combining them together, forming a coordinated attack."_

The both of them slashed Gnome several more times, with perfect flow and motion, neither's attacks crossing against each other, in perfect unison. After the initial barrage of slashes, two winds rose around the Summon Spirit of Earth, converging into one, delivering the final strike of the Unison Attack.

"This is my first time seeing a real Unison Attack!" Keele cried excitedly, which caused both Kratos and Yuan to whirl around, looking quizzically at the elf. "What?" Keele asked as he noticed the two angels giving him a weird look.

"You've never seen a Unison Attack before?" Yuan questioned, pointing a finger at the elf. "Then, how did you even know what we did was a Unison Attack?"

"I heard about it from my father!"

"Father?" Yuan repeated.

"We don't have time to be discussing such things!" Kratos yelled, effectively halting the conversation. He had turned around to face Gnome once again, only to find that the Summon Spirit of Earth had his shovel raised above his head, getting ready to make his move.

"Earth Grave!" Gnome declared as spikes started appearing from the ground, destroying anything that was in the way. Some of the spikes rose high enough to strike the ceiling of the caves, some striking the cave walls at the sides. And since they're in the confined walls of the Toize Valley Mine, the entire place was shaking violently from the spell, and rocks were falling all around.

"Is Gnome crazy? Using such a powerful spell in a mine! Is he trying to cause the entire mine to collapse?" Yuan screamed over the sound of falling rocks, slashing some up into smaller pieces, while using Force Field to block some of them.

"He's the Summon Spirit of Earth! Falling rocks like these doesn't matter to him!" Keele yelled back, casting protection spells one after another, trying to shield himself and the two angels. "It will just pass by him as if it was nothing!"

_"Damn! If Gnome doesn't let up the spell soon, the entire mine will collapse on us!"_ Kratos thought frantically as he dodged rock after rock. _"I have to do something to stop him, and also shield Yuan and Keele from the spell itself!"_

Kratos then decided what to do as he gathered a large amount of mana in his left hand. "The one which watches over us, and understands the hearts of all that is living, I summon thee!" Kratos chanted as he raised his hand out in-front of him. "Verius!"

The familiar summoning crest appeared around Kratos as Verius appeared in a flash of pink light. The Summon Spirit of Heart quickly summoned forth a shield that surrounded Verius' pact-maker, Yuan, Keele and Verius himself, effectively blocking out all falling rocks and Gnome's Earth Grave spell. Yuan and Keele had noticed the shield was able to completely protect them from the rocks, they stopped shielding themselves altogether and turned to the summoner.

Kratos wasted no time as he sheathed the Last Fencer and started gathering wind mana in his hands. Even though they were in a mine, both Yuan and Keele felt the winds around them picking up. Verius was still standing there, shielding the three of them from the falling rocks, otherwise Kratos wouldn't even have a chance to prepare the spell that he was currently casting. From the color of the green mana, both the elf and half-elf knew that Kratos was charging a wind magic, but they knew no spell that could possibly cause winds to pick up, especially in an enclosed area such as this. But Verius knew exactly what spell Kratos was going to use.

"Gentle winds, gather before me, and become a tempest that quells all who obstruct thee! Triple Cyclone!"

Three cyclones began to form around Gnome, circling around, trapping the Summon Spirit of Earth in-between all of them. Then the cyclones converged towards Gnome, slamming him against the wall, and completely blasting him out of his spell. Subsequently, the shaking stopped and rocks stopped falling. Verius brought the shield down and kept in step with Kratos as he approached Gnome. Yuan and Keele were right behind them.

"Ugh, did you have to use Sylph's magic against me?" Gnome groaned as he pulled himself off the wall.

"What else did you want me to do? Watch you collapse the mine on us?" Kratos questioned angrily, pointing an accusing finger at the Summon Spirit of Earth. "You're the one that went and used Earth Grave! Only a spell of another Summon Spirit or a summon can break your magic!"

"That's why I hate high summoners!" Gnome grumbled as he folded his arms.

Kratos' right hand was immediately balled into a fist, as if ready to punch Gnome back into the wall. Behind him, Yuan held Gungnir with both of his hands, ready to smack Gnome with it if Kratos indeed ended up punching the Summon Spirit, and Keele just stood there, with a dumbfolded look on his face.

"Now, Gnome, stop being a sore loser," Verius spoke up from beside Kratos. "It does not do well to spoil your already undignified image further. We Summon Spirits are supposed to be dignified creatures."

"Oh, hey! Verius! Haven't seen you for more than 5000 thousand years! You look well!"

"Gnome," Verius sighed. "We cannot afford to waste too much time with unimportant things right now. I'm sure you can sense that the Giant Tree is in danger, which means, that the world too, is in danger."

"Alright, alright," Gnome replied as he pointed one claw at Kratos. "Just make your vow already."

By this time, Kratos had already calmed down. Yuan put his weapon away and Keele was left wondering how was it possible that there was a Summon Spirit that was so undignified.

"Right now, someone or something is tainting the mana that is given by the Giant Tree. I am trying to find out the cause of this and put a stop to it. I vow to protect this world, for as long as I live, for the sake of creating a tomorrow that will always exist," Kratos said, without any trace of annoyance in his voice.

"Why did you make such a good vow?" Gnome complained. "Hmm...well, all right. I'll go ahead and lend my power to you, so make sure you protect this world, k?"

"I..." Kratos started, as Gnome looked on at his new pact-maker, waiting for his next few words, but the summoner shook his head in the end. "Forget it."

"Okay then," Gnome replied as he pulled on his ribbon. Then the Summon Spirit disappeared in a swirl of brown light, and in its place, a red colored gem slowly floated down into Kratos' hands. It was a ruby, the proof of the pact with the Summon Spirit of Earth. A few moments later, Verius also disappeared, in a swirl of pink light.

Kratos took a glance at the ruby in his hands momentarily, and decided to sit down on the dusty floor of the mine. _"I nearly **died** from annoyance just dealing with Gnome!"_ Kratos yelled into the abandoned Toize Valley Mine, promptly letting all his frustration out with his scream.

Yuan cringed for a moment when he heard the echo of Kratos' scream coming back at them. Then the half-elf decided to sit down beside the summoner. _"I couldn't agree with you more."_

Keele stared blankly at the two angels before him, apparently speaking in a language which he did not understand. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Nothing important to concern yourself with," Kratos remarked, waving the elf off with his right hand.

"Wha?" Keele replied, still staring at the two angels with a blank look on his face. "By the way, what language are you speaking in anyway?"

"Isn't it obvious enough?" Yuan replied with a smirk on his face. "What is the thing that makes the both of us the same?"

"Uhh...? I don't quite understand..." Keele replied, with the blank look on his face slowly turning into one of confusion and...more blankness.

"Tha..._that face!"_ Yuan choked out as he pointed at the blur look on Keele's face, trying not to make a laugh that would bring down the Toize Valley Mine. _"Just like when Mithos...!"_

Following Yuan's finger, Kratos turned to look at Keele's face and immediately knew what the half-elf meant. Burying his face in his hands, the summoner just managed to suppress his laugh into a giggle. And Keele continued staring at the two angels, maintaining the same look on his face, wondering just what the two of them were laughing about.

_When I first realised who the both of you were, I thought the both of you were cold, uncaring and serious. Even though I've only been with the two of you for a short time, I realised that your bond with each other as friends were stronger than even the toughest steel, and if something were to break it, it would just mend itself and become whole again. I have been betrayed once by someone whom I had thought was a true friend to me. And since then, I've lost all faith in the meaning of the word 'friendship'. Maybe, this time, I would learn the true meaning of friendship._

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Finally! Chapter 3! Yeah! Jump for joy! Dance! Whatever you want to do! XD; I didn't do much in the ways of manga editing again. Mostly just scanning. And I wanted to scanlate the ToS 4-Komas and Comic Anthologies too... Sigh... So far, I haven't ran into a severe writer's block. Yet. Which probably would be good news for you readers. (Yay.) Which means I can continue typing the fic as much as I want. Hah. The chapters would continue coming quite steadily for now, maybe a chapter every one or two months? Probably. 

And Kratos summons for the first time! (First two times actually XD) And they got a new companion! Whee! Well, there are going to be a couple more OCs for this fic in the later chapters, one of them being Keele's brother if you haven't guessed yet, and the other might be left for room to develop into a female OC, and one OC who is to be the villan in the entire fic! Well, when I first started this fic, I had no idea who the enemy was going to be, but now I do! And the villan probably won't appear until very, very much later. Still doing a bit planning on the enemy, but oh well. But I'm not going to tell you who/what the enemy is! (Yes, I already have a name for the big baddy) And there seems to be a slight hint in this chapter as to Keele's past. I haven't completely decided yet as to how it's going to go, but it will be revealed as the fic goes along.

And I beat a few parts of the chapter felt inconsistent. I get this feeling that it's like that, somehow. Also, I had quite a lot of trouble doing Gnome. I know, he's somewhat less dignified than the other Summon Spirits, but in doing Gnome's speech and actions, I might have gone a little overboard with it. -.-;;;

Please ignore the last few parts of the chapter. I came up with that weird, blank look thing out from nowhere. It feels so...screwed up. Somehow. Haha. Yes. I'm infamous for making things up from nowhere as I type, in case you've haven't realised. And I'm not too proud of it. -.-

Well, anyways, time to sign off now. And this chapter is even longer than the second one. Yay. I've never realised that I could actually write this long. And this chapter would mark as my longest chapter in the history of my fan fiction writing at the moment. Joy. And I thank you for all your support! My dear people who have dropped comments on this fic. Till the next chapter!


	4. Volt's Lost Faith

**Angels of Cruxis**

Written by Rena Chan

Finished on 19/08/2005

* * *

**Chapter 4 - Volt's Lost Faith**

"If I connect to the radars of both Renegade Bases and the radar on Derris-Kharlan, it just might work!"

"Are you sure about this, Yuan?" Kratos asked, giving a doubtful look at his half-elf friend.

"Of course! Who's the expert with machines and magitechnology here?" Yuan replied confidently as his hands moved swiftly across the keyboard of his portable computer.

Kratos, Yuan and Keele had left Toize Valley Mine about an hour ago after forming a pact with Gnome. They had decided to camp just outside and stop for lunch since the sun was almost halfway up in the sky. Keele had volunteered to cook lunch for them. Kratos was reluctant at first, since he wasn't very sure how well the elf could cook, but Keele assured the summoner that he was able to cook decently. He had, afterall, been living alone for more than 50 years and cooking was something he had to pick up, otherwise, how was he going to survive?

With that explanation, Kratos decided to let Keele go ahead with it. It would be good to be able to take turns with the elf to cook, rather than having to cook the meals himself everytime, especially since, the summoner mused, his best friend was a disaster at cooking. Even a simple thing like boiling something could go all wrong with Yuan cooking. And it usually ended up with something burning. But that wasn't the worse thing about it. Sometimes, the stuff cooking in the pot literally exploded, as if someone had cast Explosion on whatever the half-elf was cooking. Yuan had given up trying to cook altogether, and had resigned himself to his inability to do that since 3000 years ago, especially if he didn't want Kratos breathing down his neck for destroying the kitchen back at Welgaia.

_"Yuan is a even worse cook than Raine,"_ Kratos added to himself as an afterthought.

Yuan had suggested trying to make his computer into a radar that would be able to detect the Summon Spirits anywhere on Symphonia, or at least give them a clue on their possible whereabouts, by connecting to the radars at the two Renegade Bases on Sylvarant and Tethe'alla, and the main radar located at Derris-Kharlan.

Yuan had disbanded the Renegades five years ago when he had decided to leave on Derris-Kharlan with Kratos five years ago. And thus, the Renegade Bases where abandoned, and Yuan had completely locked down the two places, where he would be the only one that could re-enter. It was so that no one would be able to get inside to abuse the equipment located within the bases, as there exists some quite advanced magitechnology within, especially since the half-elf was an expert on magitechnology. Quite a number of machines located there were created by the half-elf using ancient magitechnology, and could be easily abused in the hands of the wrong person.

Kratos turned to look up at the sky, while listening to the sound of Yuan's typing on his computer. It was a cloudy afternoon, and the clouds partially blocked the sun, letting just the right amount of sunlight to filter through. Kratos wondered how long it would take this time for him to find the Summon Spirits. But time was something that neither them, nor the world had. The taint had gotten worse since yesterday, and it would continue to grow even worse as the days passed by. Whether or not the Summon Spirits served any purpose in stopping this from happening, Kratos didn't know. But he still had to find all of them in the shortest time possible, in case they were needed. It was also through this that the summoner hoped that they would be able to find who was the person behind all this. But what bothered him the most was that Sekundes definitely knew something. Perhaps he even knew who was behind all this? But whatever it is, the Summon Spirit had refused to tell them. Or maybe he was just unable to tell them, and can only guide them through his actions.

Yuan worked quickly and swiftly as his fingers flew all over the keyboard. After successfully connecting to the radar's computer at Derris-Kharlan which can be used to combine the functions of the two radars that were linked to the Renegade Bases, Yuan gave himself a quick mental victory and promptly brought up the map of Symphonia on his computer and activated the radar. But the results that appeared on his monitor was not what the half-elf had expected, and wanted.

"Uh oh," Yuan muttered to himself.

Kratos had heard Yuan say that and turned away from the sky to look at the half-elf's computer. What he saw wasn't something the summoner had expected. "How come there are millions, perhaps zillions, of green dots on the screen?"

Yuan bit his lower lip as he inputted some other command into his computer. "It seems that I got the radar to detect every single mana signature on Symphonia."

Kratos stared at Yuan as the half-elf turned to face him, giving the magic swordsman a nervous smile. "That's no good," Kratos murmured. "How are we going to find the Summon Spirits with a whole bazillion of other green dots on the radar?"

"I'm working on it," Yuan muttered as he turned back to his computer. After thinking for a few seconds, his hands started moving across the keyboard again. "If I could just get it to show only mana signatures with high mana levels..."

"Hey! Lunch is ready!" Keele hollered as he walked over to where the two seraphim where sitting, holding a bowl of food in each hand. Seeing as how Yuan was busy at the moment, Keele handed a bowl of food he was holding to Kratos, who took it quickly. Then the elf sat down beside the summoner, and started eating from the other bowl in his other hand.

As Kratos was about to start eating, he decided to halt in his action and stir the bowl of food with the spoon slowly. As the angel stirred the food, he mentally noted to himself the ingredients that were in the dish. Slowly, the summoner realised what Keele had cooked and mentally winced to himself.

Keele had noticed this and promptly stopped eating. "Kratos, what's wrong? Is there something wrong with the food?"

"No..." Kratos started, still a bit reluctant to start eating. "But this dish...isn't it, Pescatore?"

"Yeah."

"Pescatore?" Yuan repeated as he stopped typing and looked up from his computer. The half-elf then turned to look at Kratos, who in turn, looked back at him. "Doesn't that dish have...tomatoes in it?" Yuan asked. Although he, for some strange reason, was never able to cook a dish successfully, Yuan at least knew what were the basic ingredients contained within them. And the look Kratos gave him further confirmed this.

"Is there anything wrong with the tomatoes?" Keele asked, looking quizzically at the two seraphim.

Yuan blinked several more times at Kratos, and finally gave a long sigh. "Keele," Yuan started as he smiled nervously at the elf. "If there is one thing you need to know when cooking something that would eventually end up in Kratos' stomach is, he doesn't like tomatoes. Dunno why, but he just doesn't like them."

"Oh," Keele replied solemnly as he realised he had made a serious mistake. Then he turned to rub the back of his head. "I can always make something else..."

"Umm...no, it's alright..." Kratos muttered while trying to swallow a spoon of Pescatore, making a failed attempt at trying to ignore the taste of tomatoes in his mouth. Then the angel silently wished that he didn't have his sense of taste right now. "Since it's your first time cooking, you didn't know about me not liking tomatoes. And since it's your first time cooking from when you started journeying with us, I'll eat it...for your sake."

"I...don't know what to say..." Keele muttered as he stared at his food. The elf had only just made friends with the two seraphim and he already made a mistake so early. How could he had been so dumb? Maybe, he should have asked first on what they would like to eat. "You're so nice to me, even though I screwed up..." Keele added, a bit dejected.

"It's not your fault... Just don't cook anything that has tomatoes in it the next time..." Kratos replied placidly as he continued to try unsuccessfully, to ignore the taste of tomatoes in what he was eating. Then the summoner tried to remember the reason why he hated tomatoes in the first place. But it had been such a long time since it happened and he just was unable to recall the reason. Kratos only remembered that it was something that happened when he was very young, when he was still but a child.

"And it runs in the family too!" Yuan exclaimed, using a finger to poke Kratos on his arm, as if trying to tease the other angel.

"Yuan! It's not my fault that Lloyd doesn't like tomatoes either!" Kratos cried back at the half-elf beside him. "And how on Symphonia did you know that?"

"I have my sources," Yuan replied proudly, raising a fist over his chest. Then the half-elf noticed that Kratos was glaring dangerously at him. "Hey! I was the leader of the Renegades! Don't you think I would at least have some sort of way to gather intelligence?"

Kratos did not let up his glare as he moved his hand to point at the monitor on Yuan's computer. "You better do something about those bazillion green dots on the screen, or else."

Yuan quickly turned back to the screen and continued letting his fingers dance across the keyboard. Kratos then resumed eating the Pescatore slowly, trying to ignore the taste of tomatoes in it, and Keele just watched him silently. The elf then decided that he would make up for it the next time, when it was his turn to cook again.

OoOoOoO

"Wow! Come on Lloyd! Look at how much the tree has grown!"

"It looks like it's already growing halfway into the form which Mana showed us," Lloyd replied as he stopped beside Colette, crossed his arms and stared at the visage of the Giant Yggdrasill Tree.

"It's beautiful..." Sheena commented as the Shinobi gazed at the tree in awe.

"I'd never thought I would be able to see the Giant Tree for real in person!" Raine exclaimed excitedly as she rushed towards the base of the Giant Tree, examining it as if it was an ancient relic.

"There she goes again..." Genis muttered as he shrugged his arms and shook his head. "Sure, we've always wanted to see the Giant Tree for real, even though there was a possibility that we would never see it in our lifetime, but she didn't have to go all 'relical' over it."

"That's the Professor for you," Sheena said as she took out one of her cards and fanned herself with it.

"I guess we're going to have to hang around for a while," Colette smiled as she looked on at Raine examining the Giant Tree and Genis walking over to join his older sister. "It's going to be hard to peel Professor Sage away from the Giant Tree, with her staring at it like that."

"Yeah," Lloyd agreed.

Then, together with Colette and Sheena, they approached the Giant Tree. Colette went over to join the Sage siblings in examining the tree, trying to figure out what was it exactly that sparked the half-elves' interest. Sheena leapt up the tree, settling herself up on the lowest tree branch, watching the horizon in-front of her. Lloyd just sat down on one of the larger tree roots and stared at the leaves of the tree. Noishe, who was quite a distance behind them just now, ran up and laid down beside the Eternal Swordsman for a short nap.

After staring at the Yggdrasill Tree, the tree which he had named, for about a minute, Lloyd sighed and reached for one of the swords in his scabbards and pulled it out. The hilt of the sword was of an orange hue, with a red color top, with a golden lining with intricate designs on it. The blade was shaped like a flame, and it was also orange in color, making the sword seem like as it was on fire.

_"Dad, look at how much the Giant Tree has grown,"_ Lloyd thought silently as he raised the Flamberge into the air. He had made a trip back to his adoptive dwarven father, Dirk's house near Iselia Forest, where he had spent fourteen years growing up, in order to retrieve the Flamberge from his mother's grave, which he had left there for five years. The sword had belonged to his biological father, and the Eternal Swordsman had brought it with him, so that he would be able to show his father the tree, and how much it had grown, even though he wasn't here physically to see it.

Lloyd sighed was he lowered the sword and stared at the grass beneath his feet. After a few moments, the swordsman turned to look longingly at it, and wondered if he would ever see his real father again. The Flamberge used to belong to Kratos, but the angel had given it to Lloyd when he rejoined his friends, for the final battle against Mithos. Together with the Vorpal Sword which Dirk had given him, the power of the Eternal Sword was contained within the two swords which his two fathers had given him, and Lloyd was able to call upon the Eternal Sword as long as he had the Material Blade and the Eternal Ring. In fact, Lloyd wouldn't even be able to wield both the swords if it wasn't for the Eternal Ring, forged from a piece of Aionis, which had the ability to absorb mana from its surroundings and converting it into magical energy, thus enabling Lloyd to wield the magic swords.

A loud gasp from both Genis and Raine snapped Lloyd back to reality. The dual-wielding swordsman immediately stood up from his spot, sheathed the Flamberge back into its empty scabbard, and approached the Sage siblings. Colette, who was already there since just now, was looking quizzically at the two half-elves, wondering what was wrong. Sheena quickly leapt from the branch on the Giant Tree which she had sat on, using her ninja training and landing gracefully on the ground, and too, approached them.

"What's wrong, Professor?" Lloyd finally asked, breaking the silence.

"How can this be, can it even be possible?" was Lloyd's reply, courtesy of Raine.

"Just what is going on?" Sheena tried asking this time.

"It's the mana flow," Genis replied as he turned to face the others and tried to remain calm. "It's being tainted."

"Tainted?" Colette asked, tilting her head to her right.

"The tree will die if it isn't stopped!" Raine yelled suddenly, her body straightening quickly, eyes scanning the tree trunk. "What on Symphonia could cause this?"

"Can someone please explain?" Sheena screamed, frustration clearly showing in her eyes. She couldn't understand a single thing Raine was mumbling. Both Lloyd and Colette were equally clueless.

"How should I explain this?" Genis started as he tried to think of a way to explain it as simply as possible, in a way that anyone could understand. "Someone or something is feeding poisonous mana to the Giant Tree. And you know what poison does to living things, right?"

"It slowly kills them," Lloyd finished.

"That's right," Genis nodded.

"That's no good! We have to stop it!" Colette exclaimed as she gripped her hands and bent them up to shoulder level. "We must not let the tree die!"

"But the question is, how do we stop it?" Sheena asked as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Can't the Professor just cast a healing spell on the tree?" Lloyd asked, blinking his eyes quickly three times.

"I wish it was that simple, Lloyd," Raine replied as she finally sighed and turned to face the others. "The thing is, the tree's being tainted via the mana flow, and I can't heal the mana flow. I can only heal injuries or abnormalities that are caused physically. I can't do anything about it if it's being done through the mana belonging to the thing in question."

"I don't really understand what you're saying very well," Lloyd replied, rubbing his head in confusion. "But in the end, it just means that you are unable to use your healing arts to heal the tree."

"If that is what you understand from my explanation, then that's all you need to know."

"But I don't see what's wrong with the tree," Sheena said, running her right hand through her hair thoughtfully. "It looks normal to me."

"That's the problem," Raine replied, closing her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. "When something is being tainted, or poisoned through ones' mana or mana flow, it cannot be detected just by looking at the physical appearance of the one affected. You need to sense the mana, which is something that only elves, half-elves, or a human who had gone through magic transfusion can sense."

"Okay. So, we can't sense it, but we need to stop it somehow!" Sheena cried, slapping a fist into her other hand.

"But how do we stop it?" Colette asked.

"We need to find the source, and destroy it," Raine replied, finally opening her eyes and uncrossed her arms to her sides. "Then the mana flow will slowly return to normal."

"I don't understand how that's going to return the tree to normal," Lloyd said, as he rubbed the back of his head. "Won't the poison remain in the tree?"

"Lloyd," Genis started, slapping his hand on his forehead. "The Giant Tree gives out mana to the world, which is used by the lands of this world, and in turn, goes back to the Giant Tree. The tree will then purify the mana, and gives it out to the land once again, and this cycle continues on."

"As long as tainted mana is continuously being fed to the Giant Tree, the tree would not have enough time to completely purify the mana that goes to it. And when it is unable to do that, the tree will absorb the tainted mana into itself, and the bad mana will eventually kill the Giant Tree, as it would not have enough time to purify it, while still trying to provide mana to the land." Raine continued to explain. "But if the tainted mana were to stop flowing into the tree, it would have ample time to purify it. Thus, by stopping whatever is giving the tree the bad mana, it will eventually purify the mana it absorbed, and it will be fine."

"I thought that the tree produced mana?" Lloyd asked, still looking very confused.

"Yes, it does," Raine sighed, getting a bit annoyed at trying to explain things to the Eternal Swordsman. "But it doesn't do that unless it's necessary. The tree's first priority is to recycle and renew any mana that was used. Producing mana is its secondary function. The tree will produce mana only when there isn't enough mana to provide to the land. And in order to produce mana, life force is needed from the tree itself, which would restore itself, if given enough time. That is why, over consumption of mana can kill the Giant Tree, because the life of the tree is needed to produce mana. And if mana is being produced faster than it's life force is being restored, the tree would not have enough life force left for itself and will die."

"That is how the Ancient Kharlan War killed the tree in the first place," Genis added.

"Wait a minute," Sheena started, as she realised something from Raine's explanations on how the Giant Tree works. "When it absorbs the tainted mana into itself, won't the land be lacking mana? And when it lacks mana, the tree will produce mana with its life force to give to the land. And if the tainted mana isn't being purified fast enough, won't over producing mana also kill the tree?"

"Very good observation, Sheena," Raine commended the Shinobi. "So, either the tainted mana, or the overwhelming need for the tree to produce mana for the land, which would deplete its life, will kill it, which ever happens first."

"So, now what?" Colette asked, as she turned her head around to look at the faces of the others.

"We need to stop it, of course!" Lloyd cried, slamming his right fist into his left hand. "We need to find out what's causing this, and put a stop to it!"

"But the problem is, where do we start looking?" Genis asked, shrugging and shaking his head.

"Uhh... I have no idea..." Lloyd replied, with his head hanging.

"Professor Sage, how much time do we have before the tree dies?" Colette asked.

"Fortunately, it is still in its early stages at the moment," Raine replied. "If it continues this way, and also accounting for the amount of mana used by the current level of the world's magitechnology, I would say...about six months to one year. Of course, if the taint process gets accelerated suddenly, we would only have one month, maybe even less, to save the Giant Tree."

"We should get cracking, then," Lloyd said with much enthusiasm.

"But, like I said," Genis interrupted. "Where do we start?"

"Uhh..."

"Why don't we ask the Summon Spirits?" Colette suggested. "I'm sure they can feel that something is wrong with the tree!"

All eyes instantly turned towards Sheena. It took the former summoner a few seconds to register why her friends were looking at her like that, before she finally uttered, "Wait a minute here! I no longer have my pacts with the Summon Spirits! I've already told you guys that, remember?"

"Oh yes, that's right," Raine replied. Then the half-elf professor turned her gaze towards Lloyd. "What about you, Lloyd? Do you have any contact with Origin?"

"No," Lloyd replied. "Although I still have the right to wield the Eternal Sword, I no longer have any contact with Origin, ever since the two worlds were reunited."

"Then it looks like we would have to look for the Summon Spirits personally, and talk to them," Raine replied, crossing her arms over her chest once again. "The problem right now is, how do we find them?"

All eyes turned towards Sheena once again. "H...How would I know," Sheena sputtered, as she took a step back, using her right hand to shield her chest. "The Summon Spirits had always resided at the seals. And now that they are no longer acting as seals or mana links, I have no idea how to find them!"

"Then, what about your friends at the Elemental Research Center?" Genis asked.

"They have no idea either. It already took them a long time just to find out why I no longer have my pacts with the Summon Spirits," Sheena replied. "I could imagine that it would take an equally long time for them to find out how to locate the Summon Spirits."

"We cannot afford to waste time like this!" Lloyd exclaimed, clenching his right fist tightly.

"Then," Raine started, still having her arms crossed over her chest and closed her eyes, deep in thought. "We will have to make a trip to Derris-Kharlan."

"De...Derris-Kharlan?" Lloyd said as he bit his lower lip, trying his best not to collapse from shock. "W...What for?"

"Because," Raine started as she opened her eyes again. "The two angels there might know how to locate the Summon Spirits. And let's not forget, they used to be Mithos' companions, who was a summoner during the Ancient War. And they located the Summon Spirits in the situation that resembles our current predicament," Raine explained. Then the teacher closed her eyes once again, nodding slightly. "I'm quite positive that they know how to find the Summon Spirits. Or at the very least, Kratos knows how to find them."

Lloyd immediately sighed, as he had longed to see the person, who's name which Raine had just mentioned, for the past five years. But the swordsman was still a bit reluctant to send them all to Derris-Kharlan, because of the promise he had made to his father. But the world was in danger. Surely Kratos wouldn't blame him? Besides, it was a good chance for Lloyd to be with his biological father once more, even if it was for just a little while, and they would save the world together, once again.

"Sometimes," Raine spoke up suddenly, interrupting Lloyd's thoughts. "I could almost swear that Kratos is a summoner. His knowledge of the Summon Spirits is simply astounding. If only there was a way to prove this..."

"But Raine," Genis piped up. "There is also the possibility that he gained his knowledge from Mithos."

"That's true," Raine replied. "Anyways Lloyd, are you going to bring us to Derris-Kharlan or not?"

"Oh yes, that's right..." Lloyd muttered as he scratched his head, still trying to clear his head of all thoughts. The swordsman would not be able to use the Eternal Sword properly if he wasn't able to concentrate.

"Kratos is a summoner, huh?" Sheena muttered silently to herself. It was a likely possibility, Sheena thought, but whether he was a summoner or not, the Shinobi was still grateful for his knowledge of the Summon Spirits. If it weren't for him, she might have failed to form a pact with Undine in the first place. She had no idea that it was actually possible to ask the Summon Spirits for the annulment of their previous pact if their previous pact-maker had either passed on, broken their vow, or fulfilled it, as Sheena had only learnt of three years ago. Although Kratos didn't mention the part on fulfillment of the pact, but the angel probably knew about it anyway.

Lloyd was about to draw the Material Blade when Noishe came up to him suddenly and started tugging on the Eternal Swordsman's sleeve, whining and growling uncomfortably. "What's wrong, Noishe?" Lloyd asked as he turned his attention to the arshis.

"I think," Colette started as she pointed into the distance. "Noishe might be trying to warn us of an approaching monster."

"Can you see what it looks like, Colette?" Raine asked, summoning her Crystal Rod from nowhere, getting ready to battle.

"Using my angel sight, yes," Colette replied, drawing her Angel's Halo chakrams. "It's a monster that we've never seen before, but it looks like a dragon."

Following Raine and Colette's lead, everyone else quickly drew their weapons. Lloyd unsheathed his Material Blade, which consisted of the Flamberge and Vorpal Sword, Sheena brought out her Divine Judgment card, and Genis took out his One World kendama.

The five of them stood, with their weapons drawn, and waited patiently as the monster slowly lumbered towards them. Although it was possible for them to make the first move, they had decided to wait. They first had to know the monster's motive before deciding the appropriate action to take. It may just be a wandering monster, with no hostility towards them, or it could be a monster that was hunting for food. But more importantly was, they had never seen this monster before. And also, for it to appear near the Giant Tree, it might be a monster that was sent by someone to destroy the tree, the someone meaning the person behind the tainting of the mana flowing into the Giant Yggdrasill Tree.

Lloyd and Sheena moved right to the front of the party as the "dragon" continued to advance on them. Both Raine and Genis, being magic users, stayed behind the Eternal Swordsman and Shinobi, and Colette stayed in between the four of them, since she can throw her chakrams from a distance.

As the monster came within their battle range, everyone had a real good look at the monster. It was at least twice their size. It's body was covered by purple dragon scales which acted as its armor. The side of its head had small, devil like wings sprouting from it, which is probably its ears, and two straight horns protruding from the top of its head. It had sharp claws and teeth, and an equally strong tail that could probably knock a person unconscious if it hit.

It stopped just before it got into both Lloyd and Sheena's attacking range, and roared. Just then, it was clear to all of them that the dragon was hostile, and Lloyd charged.

The dragon slashed at the charging Eternal Swordsman as he approached. Lloyd skillfully brought up the Material Blade and parried the attack. Then he called up all the strength he could muster and pushed away the dragon's right claw. It surprised the dragon a bit that it took a step back, and Lloyd took this chance to slash at its body with both swords.

But Lloyd wasn't prepared for what happened next. And it wasn't because his attack didn't hit. It was because the attack he pulled off didn't even make the dragon flinch. All the dragons he had fought in the past had at least flinched from his attack. And it was the same strong stroke the swordsman had used in his past battles with dragons.

Before Lloyd could recover from his initial shock, the dragon swung its claw at him again. But Lloyd snapped out of it just in time before the attack connected with his body. He quickly brought the Flamberge up to block the attack, but since it was such a hasty parry, Lloyd still got knocked backwards and nearly fell.

By then, Sheena had moved to attack. As she came within attacking range, the Mizuho Chief executed her Power Seal special attack, followed it with a Serpent Seal Pinion, and ended with a Pyre Seal. And yet, even after one of Sheena's best combos, the dragon didn't even flinch nor falter one bit.

"What the?" Sheena cried, clearly as surprised as Lloyd was. But before she could recover, the dragon swung its tail at the former summoner. She wasn't as lucky as Lloyd however, and took the full blow of the swing. As Sheena landed, she gasped a bit and quickly tried to get back on her feet. But just as the Shinobi tried that, a pain seared through her chest and she fell back to the ground.

"Sheena, are you okay?" Lloyd asked as he approached the ninja. The worried Swordsman knelt down beside her and tried checking for injuries.

"I think...I broke a rib..." Sheena laughed nervously as she felt the pain going through her chest once again. She clutched her chest this time while trying her hardest not to yell out in pain.

Colette had decided to take the frontlines while Lloyd was with Sheena. The former Chosen tossed her chakrams one after the other in an attempt to keep the dragon back as Genis started preparing a spell. Of course, as with both Lloyd and Sheena's attacks, they did little to flinch the dragon as it advanced.

Finally, Genis' Thunder Blade spell was ready, and the half-elf executed it without hesitation. Although it somehow managed to flinch the dragon a little, it still didn't do any critical damage on it.

"Professor Sage!" Lloyd yelled as he stood and turned to face the enemy once again. "Sheena might have broken a rib!"

"I'm coming over!" Raine yelled admist all the chaos. But just before she could take a step, the dragon fired a green orb from its mouth at Genis. It had somehow figured out that Genis was going to be the most dangerous to it among them, and had decided to bring the half-elf down first, with what looks like its most dangerous attack.

But Genis just stood there, dumbfolded and surprised, despite the others' call to him to get out of the way. The half-elf mage only snapped out of it when something orange had moved in-front of him and took the attack. It took a a while for his mind to register what transpired, and realised that Raine had stepped in-front of him and took the attack.

"Raine!" Genis cried out as his older sister slowly collapsed to the ground. The younger sage sibling had managed to catch her before she touched the ground. Holding Raine in his arms, Genis quickly examined her, while trying to hold back his tears which are threatening to fall. The half-elf was no longer a kid now. He's already seventeen years old and has to be strong, no matter what happens.

Raine was breathing very hard and her breaths seemed very forced. Not only that, she was also sweating profusely, and her body was slowly weakening with every second. Genis gritted his teeth has he realised what had hit his sister.

"Raine's been poisoned!" Genis shouted. He was trying very hard not to panic as he bit his lower lip. "But I don't have any panacea bottle on me right now!"

"Colette!" Lloyd thought quickly as he took command. "Bring Sheena over there and give the Professor a panacea bottle!"

"Got it Lloyd!" Colette replied as she summoned her pink mana wings and picked Sheena up without too much effort. The angel quickly brought the Shinobi to where the Sage siblings were and set her down carefully so as not to injure her further. After setting her Angel's Halo chakrams down and fumbling for a while, she finally produced a panacea bottle from her pockets. Genis helped to hold Raine's mouth open while Colette slowly poured the contents of the panacea bottle into it.

After he had given Colette the order, Lloyd moved to engage the dragon. The Eternal Swordsman used Demonic Chaos to get its attention. The dragon, naturally, got annoyed and moved to engage Lloyd. Just as it lumbered towards him, Lloyd felt a tug on his left sleeve, followed by a low whine.

Lloyd turned and found himself face to face with Noishe. The protozoan kept on pulling on his master's sleeve, not letting go, seemingly trying to tell him something. Lloyd realised what Noishe was trying to tell him. He was telling the swordsman to follow him.

"Noishe! Not now!" Lloyd snapped as he pulled his left arm free. "I can't leave now! Can't you see that we're fighting right now?"

Noishe slowly backed away from an angry Lloyd and whined. The truth was, Noishe knew what monster that was, and he also knew that if Lloyd had followed him, all of them would have a chance of surviving against it. But it was too bad the arshis couldn't talk, otherwise he would have been able to tell Lloyd what he was thinking. Noishe drooped his ears a bit and decided what he had to do. Thus he turned and ran.

"Noishe!" Lloyd called as he saw the protozoan run away. "Argh! Just what is he thinking? Trying to get me to follow him at first and now he runs away?" Lloyd grumbled as he turned to face the dragon again. It was firing flames at him and Lloyd brought up Guardian to shield himself from it. Then he used Hunting Beast and pushed the dragon further away from him.

Genis was waiting for the effects of the panacea bottle to take effect. But when it had taken too long, it was clearly obvious that it didn't work. Genis gripped Raine tighter in his arms while he tried to think of what to do next.

"It looks like the panacea bottle didn't work..." Colette muttered.

"It means that it's a very powerful poison," Sheena commented, while trying to bite back another wave of pain. "We'll need to bring her to a doctor..."

"But the poison is spreading rather quickly!" Genis cried, as he felt his sister's entire body covered with sweat. "We won't be able to make it on time! And then there's the dragon!"

Colette picked up her chakrams and stood up. "Genis, stay here and look after Sheena and the Professor. I'm going to help Lloyd defeat the dragon so that we can get Professor Sage to the doctor as soon as we can. Don't give up, okay?"

Genis nodded. Colette gave the half-elf mage a thumbs up, called her wings out again and flew into battle once more, to Lloyd's aid.

"Looks like we'll just have to believe in both Lloyd and Colette to come through for her, huh?"

Genis turned to look up at Sheena. "It's not just for Raine. It's for all of us."

"How true..." Sheena murmured as she tried to stay still, so as not to worsen her injuries.

OoOoOoO

"It looks like your plan didn't succeed."

"Argh! Don't remind me! This can't be happening, can it? Making a mockery of my genius!" Yuan cried into the air as he walked. "The Great Yuan Crestfield, Master of Magitechnology, can't even get a proper mana signature radar working!"

Keele smiled nervously to himself as he continued to walk ahead of the two seraphim. Kratos slapped his right hand on his forehead from that comment as he muttered something in angelic that was barely audible. Yuan just continued sulking.

Two hours after lunch, Yuan was still unable to get his radar to work. He had insisted that he had almost got it and just needed more time, but Kratos decided that it would be better to just continue moving instead, and Yuan can continue working on his radar whenever they rested. The summoner didn't want to waste any more time. At least this way, they stood a higher chance of locating the Summon Spirits.

Keele thought of something as he turned to face the two angels and walking backwards. "Hey, aren't we near the Giant Yggdrasill Tree? Why don't we take a look?"

"We don't have time for this..." Kratos started.

"Just for a few minutes?" Keele asked, interrupting Kratos and putting on the most innocent looking puppy dog eyes the elf could muster at the summoner.

"Keele, that isn't going to wo---" Yuan replied, but stopped suddenly before he managed to finish his sentence, in order to avoid bumping into Kratos, who was the one that actually stopped walking suddenly. Noticing that both seraphim had stopped, Keele stopped too.

"Kratos, what's wrong?" Yuan asked. The half-elf knew Kratos wouldn't stop walking out of the blue unless he heard something that makes him all tense and worked up.

"Can you hear that?" Kratos replied to Yuan, in the form of a question.

"Hear what?"

"Barking..."

"Barking?" Yuan repeated as he stood and tried to pick out the sound which his friend probably heard with his angelic hearing. "Well, I do hear a faint barking, and it sounds...very familiar..."

"What? What is it that you guys can hear?" Keele asked, as he tried to pick out a barking sound. Then the elf heard it too. He quickly turned around and saw something with white fur sporting some spots of green at certain parts of the body, running up to them. As it finally reached reached the trio, Keele realised what it was and got all excited. "Wow! Isn't that a protozoan that has evolved into an arshis? I thought they were extinct!"

"Noishe?" Both Kratos and Yuan muttered at the same time. Keele got a little disappointed as he realised that the two angels didn't give the reaction the elf had expected of them.

Kratos knelt down and patted the protozoan anyway, not thinking of how and why his pet found him. "Noishe, what are you doing here? Aren't you with Lloyd?"

At the mention of Lloyd's name, Noishe immediately whined and barked repeatedly, as if trying to communicate with the seraph. Kratos simply blinked a few times trying to make out what the arshis was trying to tell him. After being with him for so long, Kratos was able to understand what Noishe was trying to tell him to a certain extent, whenever they needed to communicate.

"Is Lloyd in danger?" Kratos asked. Noishe replied with a whine. "Where?" Kratos continued asking as he placed his right hand over Noishe's head, his left hand over his own forehead, and focused some of his angelic power into both of his hands.

_'Yggdrasill. Murk Dragon.'_

After getting his answer, Kratos stood up, summoned his wings into view, and took off into the air, leaving Keele standing there, confused at what was going on. But Yuan had a good idea of what happened. Lloyd's in danger. And that's all the half-elf need to know.

"Noishe, can you bring us to where Lloyd is?" Yuan asked as he looked down at the arshis. Noishe barked in reply and started running. Yuan quickly followed suit but stopped as he realised that Keele wasn't following.

"Keele! Are you coming or are you just going to stand there?" Yuan barked at the elf and started running again.

Keele immediately snapped out of it and started following Yuan. "Of course I'm coming!"

OoOoOoO

Lloyd brought up both of his swords to block both of the dragon's claws as it swung. Taking this chance, Colette tossed Angel Feathers in it's direction in an attempt to break Lloyd out of sword lock. But she had no such luck. Instead, it served only to annoy the dragon as it turned its head and shot out a stream of flame at the former chosen. Colette just barely managed to bring up Damage Guard and blocked out the attack. Lloyd jumped as high as he could into the air in order to break out of sword lock, and backflipped to where Colette is.

"Colette, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Colette replied as she turned to look at their opponent again and noticed that the dragon had summoned wind blades from its claw swings straight at Lloyd. "Lloyd, look out!"

Lloyd quickly turned back to the dragon and saw what the former chosen had saw coming towards him. There wasn't enough time to focus and call up Guardian to block the attacks, so he tried to dodge them instead. The Eternal Swordsman barely managed to dodge the first wind blade but wasn't so lucky evading the second one has it slashed his right leg. Lloyd buckled under the sudden pain and knelt down on his left knee on the ground, not letting go of his swords.

"Lloyd!" Colette cried as she stopped beside him.

"Colette, hurry, take the others and run!" Lloyd shouted through gritted teeth. "Save the others!"

"No! I won't leave you!" Colette argued. Then she turned and saw the dragon advancing towards them. The angel then quickly stood in-front of Lloyd and held her chakrams at chest level and closed her eyes. The only thing that was in her mind as she did that was that Lloyd was always protecting her. It was time for her to protect him.

"Colette, run!" Lloyd shouted once again, in an attempt to stop Colette from doing something foolish. But Colette wouldn't budge from her position. Lloyd wanted to leap and push the former chosen away from harm, but his injured leg just wouldn't let him.

Colette closed her eyes as she tried to focus on blocking the attack. Besides Genis, who was looking after Sheena and Raine right now, she was the only one not injured and still able to fight. If she could block this attack, she still might stand a chance to win, but she knew that it would probably take a miracle for it to happen. Even if Lloyd was still able to fight, Colette knew that he was already wearing out from the battle and the dragon doesn't look like it was going to go down anytime soon.

Except, the attack never came. Instead, the sound of claw clashing metal was heard. Surprised, Colette opened her eyes and saw the back of a very familiar person. The messy mob of auburn hair and the purple clothes. There was no mistake. Colette immediately knew who it was.

Lloyd saw him too. The familiar hair and outfit, it was someone he knew all to well, and had longed to see again. "Dad? What are you doing here?"

Kratos turned as he acknowledged Lloyd. "Questions later!" The seraph barked. Just then, he noticed the injury on Lloyd's right leg. Then he turned to yell orders at Colette, who was just hovering there, surprised to see him. "Colette! Tend to Lloyd!"

Colette nodded and quickly went back to Lloyd's side. Digging out a few gels, she started tending to his wound on his right leg.

Kratos stood facing his opponent once again, still in sword lock. Summoning his angelic strength, the angel pushed the dragon away and it stepped back in surprise. Kratos took this chance and slashed it twice with his sword and led it into a Grave Blade. Lloyd, who was watching the battle while Colette tended to his injured leg, had expected the dragon to not flinch from the attack, but was surprised when he saw it roar out in pain.

_"Dad knows how to fight this dragon?"_ Lloyd thought, quite surprised at how easily Kratos had damaged it.

Colette looked up after doing the best she could about Lloyd's wound. Then she brought the Eternal Swordsman over to where the others were and started contemplating whether to help Kratos out or not. But the seraph was handling the dragon pretty well, and doing considerable damage to it. Colette figured out that she should just be on stand by first, and only help when she needs to.

A loud bark caused them all to turn. Noishe bounded up next to Lloyd and licked the swordsman's face. "Noishe! Where did you go?"

"Noishe is much smarter than you think," A voice familiar to Lloyd replied for the protozoan.

Lloyd turned to face the owner of the voice. "Yuan?"

"I am to remain be invisible, then?"

"They don't know you, Keele."

"Aww, you've hurt my feelings. Can't you introduce me or something?"

"Just shut up, we don't have time for this right now," Yuan muttered as he turned to look at Kratos' opponent. "A Murk Dragon? But they're supposed to have died out since the end of the Kharlan War...What is one doing here?"

"Murk Dragon?" Colette asked tilting her head at the former Renegade leader.

"The name of the monster," Yuan replied as he turned to survey the fallen party. Well, _almost_ fallen party. Apart from Colette and Genis, Lloyd had a handkerchief tied to his right leg, Sheena was clutching her chest in pain, and Raine was lying in Genis' arms, poisoned. Yuan bit his lower lip as he realised that. "Did Raine get poisoned by a green orb attack from the Murk Dragon?"

"Raine...she shielded me from an attack resembling that..." Genis replied softly as he lowered his head to stare at nothing. But thanks to his angelic hearing, Yuan heard the younger Sage sibling as clear as day.

"Okay, not good," Yuan replied as he wondered what to do next. Then his eyes darted around Raine's body, doing a quick examination on her, and realised that the half-elf teacher had been poisoned for too long. She was left with only about ten minutes before the poison finishes spreading through her entire body. "Wonderful. She only has ten more minutes."

"Wait, Raine has only ten more minutes before she dies?" Sheena shouted in surprise and shock. That shout however aggravated her injured rib cage and the Shinobi screamed out in pain. It was then Yuan realised that Sheena's ribs might have broke.

"Sheena!" Colette cried out in concern as she turned to look at the Mizuho Chief.

"No, this can't be..." Genis murmured as tears started to fall. "Why did you protect me? That attack was meant for me!"

"Genis, it's because the Professor is your older sister that's why she protected you," Lloyd said in comfort. The truth was he wanted to cry too, but he had to remain strong, for his best friend.

"Isn't there a way to save her?" Colette asked as she turned to look up at Yuan. "A panacea bottle didn't work!"

Yuan closed his eyes and thought about it. He knew that poison all too well. During his travels with Mithos, he had once gotten hit by it when he tried to protect Martel. And it was something that he didn't want to experience again. Of course, he still remembered clearly how he was cured though. It wasn't by a panacea bottle nor a healing spell. It was through the use of herbs and something else Kratos did before he found the cure to the poison.

The blue haired half-elf then sighed and summoned his double-bladed weapon from nowhere. "Kratos can halt the poison for a few hours," Yuan replied as he readied the weapon for battle.

"What? Dad can?" Lloyd asked in surprise.

"He has the means to," Yuan replied as he got ready to charge into battle. "Keele, use earth magic against the enemy. That's its weakness, and practically the only thing that can hurt it."

Keele nodded as he raised both of his hands in-front of him and gathered earth mana in them as he prepared a spell.

Yuan quickly advanced towards where Kratos was as he shouted to the other seraph. "Kratos! Raine's been poisoned by Murk Dragon! She only has five more minutes!"

"What?" Kratos turned to face Yuan as the half-elf arrived at his side. It was then a Grave spell cast by Keele came in full force. Gray spikes rose all around the dragon, trapping it. Then one huge spike shot from beneath it and blasted it into the air, and the Murk Dragon landed with a loud thud.

"Go! I'll take over!" Yuan cried to his best friend. "Just...don't take too long."

"Hmph, an incantation like that doesn't take that long to cast," Kratos muttered as he turned and dashed towards where the rest were.

"Doesn't take too long, huh?" Yuan repeated as another earth spell came flying at the Murk Dragon. Yuan then gathered earth mana and focused it onto his weapon. "Power of the earth, grant thy strength unto this weapon! Endow Earth!" With his weapon enchanted with earth mana, the half-elf struck back at the enemy.

Kratos came up to Raine as everyone else except Genis shifted a bit to make room for the angel. He quickly sheathed the Last Fencer and reached into his pouch for something. After searching for a few seconds, the seraph finally fished out a ring, with a light blue colored gem fixed on it. Sheena, upon looking at it closely, gasped as she realised that the gem that was on the ring was an aquamarine.

_"Wait a minute! Isn't that the proof of the pact with Undine?"_ Sheena thought as she looked at Kratos picking up Raine's hand, and slipped the ring onto one of her fingers. Apparently, no one else but her had realised that. It was then she also noticed another ring with a red gem on it on one of Kratos' fingers. And it was another gem she knew well. A ruby. _"Why does Kratos...?"_ Sheena started but she shook the thought out of her mind. Raine's safety was more important right now.

After slipping the aquamarine on, Kratos held Raine's hand in both of his and started to mutter some words in a language which no one else understood.

"Colette, do you understand what Kratos is saying?" Sheena whispered into the angel's ear.

Colette shook her head. "Nope. He's not speaking in angelic, that's for sure."

After finishing his incantation, a crest was summoned beneath Raine and Genis. Blue light rose and wrapped around the half-elf scholar, seemingly trying to protect her. "She'll be fine for a few hours," Kratos said as he brought his hands away and everyone saw that the ring on Raine's finger was glowing a faint light blue.

"The aquamarine..." Sheena blurted out. "...can do that?"

"These rings aren't just for enchanting weapons with elemental properties and strengthening your resistance against them," Kratos replied. He knew that Sheena had realised that ring was the proof of pact with the Summon Spirit of Water, and just replied to her, straight to the point. "They can do a lot more in the hands of a High Summoner."

"High Summoner?" Sheena repeated, clearly surprised. Then she clutched her chest once more as the pain went through it.

Kratos noticed that and shook his head. "You've injured your rib. Don't talk too forcefully or move anymore if you don't want it to end up fractured."

Sheena stared hard at the angel. Although she was a bit reluctant to take his advice, but after thinking for a while, she realised that Kratos apparently knew his stuff very well. Once, during their journey together five years ago, Sheena had came up with a fever which Raine was unable to cure with items nor her healing magic. It was Kratos who had cooked up a herbal soup for her, and after drinking it, Sheena was all better the next day. Despite his weaker healing power, Kratos seemed to have a very good knowledge of herbs, which Raine didn't know too much about. This by itself already puts him at the same level as a healer as Raine. Then she nodded. But the former summoner was still curious to know what a High Summoner was. It seems that the others didn't realise what words had been exchanged between them. They were all worried about Raine and were now crowding around her, after Genis had finally decided to lay her down on the ground. The half-elf's breathing was still a bit laboured, but it wasn't as bad as just now, and she wasn't sweating as much.

Kratos stood up as he turned to face the Murk Dragon once more and Yuan who was fighting it. Although with Keele's magic support and the half-elf taking the frontlines, their combined might would be able to bring the enemy down, but it would still take quite some time before it happened. Besides having earth type attacks and spells as the only means of doing damage to it, the dragon itself had a high endurance and its not something that would go down so easily, even when you know how to fight it. The summoner closed his eyes for a while and opened them again as he walked forward.

"Dad! What are you doing?" Lloyd yelled after his biological father without moving from his spot.

"To end this battle," Kratos replied as he stopped and raised his right hand to the side, where the ruby glinted in the sunlight. "I've only halted the poison flowing through Raine's body. She still needs to be cured from the poison in order to recover. And doing it with the Murk Dragon around is...annoying."

"Let me help!" Lloyd started as he tried to stand. Although his wound was still there, but the pain had mostly subsided and it was partly healed.

Kratos simply shook his head. "No. Just rest. It will be over in a minute."

"But...!" Lloyd retorted.

Sheena bit her lower lip as she realised what Kratos was planning to do. If he possessed the ruby, it must mean that he had a pact with the Summon Spirit of Earth. And the weakness of the dragon was earth. If she guessed right, Kratos is going to summon Gnome.

"Listen to him, Lloyd," Sheena said. Then she noticed that the swordsman was looking at her. "It really will be over in a minute," the ninja added.

"How is it possible?" Lloyd argued. "Do you know something that I don't?"

"You'll find out soon enough," Sheena simply replied, closed her eyes, and tried not to think of the irony of it. Raine was actually right. Kratos was a summoner.

Kratos closed his eyes as he started to gather earth mana. A brown ring of mana surrounded the summoner as he did that. Yuan, Keele, and even Genis all looked at his direction when they felt the shift of mana towards one direction which lead towards him. Yuan immediately knew what Kratos was up to. He'd seen his friend summon plenty and recognises the way the mana flows when Kratos summons. It took a while for Keele to realise it though, since the elf had only recently gotten to know them and had only seen Kratos summon a Summon Spirit into battle once, thus he doesn't recognise the mana flow pattern very well. As for Genis, he had no idea what Kratos was up to. The way the mana flowed was unfamiliar to the half-elf, since the mana flow patterns differ from summoner to summoner. He knows the way the mana flows when Sheena summons, but not Kratos. So Genis guessed that Kratos was trying to cast a strong earth spell.

"I call upon the Servant of Mother Earth! I summon thee! Gnome!" Kratos called as he raised his right arm into the air. The crest which represents the Summon Spirits appeared beneath Kratos' feet as he completed the summon. Massively huge brown spikes rose from the ground all around the Murk Dragon as Gnome appeared. Seeing the Summon Spirit, Yuan quickly retreated so as not to obstruct him. Holding his spade in his left hand and raising his other forward, Gnome commanded the spikes towards the Murk Dragon, stabbing it from all sides. The attack was too much for the Murk Dragon. With one final roar, it fell dead to the ground and its mana slowly dissipated into the ground.

Kratos gave a sigh as he lowered his right arm. Yuan, seeing that there was no other immediate danger around, put his weapon away and walked back to where Kratos was. Keele gave a nod to the two seraphim as they turned back to face the others. Everyone else, except Sheena, who knew what was going on, and Raine, who was lying asleep right now, were all gaping at Kratos.

Kratos blinked at them as he wondered what was wrong. "What?"

Lloyd was the first one to recover from the shock. "D-Dad! You just summoned Gnome!" Lloyd replied, still not believing what he had just saw.

"So?" Kratos replied, crossing his arms.

"You're a summoner?" Genis asked, who was still trying to absorb what had just transpired.

"That's so cool!" Colette replied happily.

Both Lloyd and Genis turned to stare at Colette blankly. The former Chosen of Sylvarant blinked at them, wondering why were they staring at her like that for. And Sheena started giggling softly at the dismay between the three of them. Then the three of them turned to look at the Shinobi.

"You know, if you guys had paid more attention to the rings that are on Raine and Kratos' fingers, you guys wouldn't be so surprised," Sheena said, without moving her body as she stopped giggling.

Genis blinked in surprise as he turned to look at the ring that was on his sister's finger. It was still glowing a soft blue, protecting the older Sage sibling from the poison. Upon closer inspection, the half-elf mage gasped as he realised what the gem was. "An aquamarine? Isn't that the proof of the pact with Undine?" Then he turned to look at Sheena. "You knew?"

"I noticed it when he took it out," Sheena replied. "And while he was putting the ring onto Raine's finger, I noticed another ring on his."

Both Lloyd and Genis then turned to look at Kratos' hand. Sheena was right. There was another ring on Kratos' finger, which was topped with a red colored gem. "A ruby?"

"Isn't that the proof of the pact with Efreet?" Lloyd asked, tilting his head sideways, looking back at Genis.

"Lloyd! It's the proof of the pact with Gnome!" Genis yelled at his best friend, temporarily forgetting about his poisoned sister.

"Huh? But doesn't red mean fire?" Lloyd asked. "I saw red so I immediately thought of Efreet!"

Genis mearly slapped his forehead with his left hand.

"It goes to show that Lloyd is definitely not summoner material," Yuan commented, shifting the lock of hair out of his eye. "It's a pity though, half of his blood is that of a summoner. But he at least got the element right."

"Ha ha, very funny," Kratos mumbled under his breath.

But Yuan's comment on Lloyd's blood had caught Sheena's attention. "Wait, half of Lloyd's blood?"

Yuan crossed his arms at chest level, closed his eyes, and nodded. "Kratos is a pure-blooded summoner."

"Wow! That's so cool!" Colette's voice chirped out once again.

"That is _not_ cool," Kratos growled in annoyance as he stomped forward. "If you'll excuse me, I still got a poisoned half-elf to cure."

It was then Lloyd and the others remembered about Raine. Except for Sheena, Lloyd, Colette and Genis started scrambling around, trying to think of how they could bring their teacher to a doctor.

"Lloyd, you don't have the Rheairds with you?"

"No! I left them all back at home!"

"I can fly the Professor to the doctor!"

"Are you sure you can make it, Colette?"

Yuan watched Lloyd, Colette and Genis in mock amusement as they scrambled about. Then he turned towards Kratos and observed his friend. The summoner had his eyes closed, keeping both of his hands clenched in fists, and was breathing in and out, very slowly. And Yuan knew what it meant. Kratos was trying not to lose his temper and yell at the three of them. But the half-elf wasn't the only one who knew what it meant. Noishe knew it too, and suddenly gave a very loud howl into the air.

Lloyd, Colette and Genis all stopped as they heard that. Satisfied at the outcome his howl had brought, Noishe trotted forward, stopping in-front of Lloyd, forced the swordsman to sit down, and promptly did the same to both Colette and Genis.

And all the while, Keele just stood there watching, too confused to do anything.

"Noishe! What are you doing? We have to bring the Professor to a doctor!" Lloyd chided the protozoan, who had been with him since he was born. Noishe simply sat down in-front of Raine, not moving, as if waiting for something to happen.

"You know, it would be much faster for Kratos to cure the poison that's on Raine then you bringing her to a doctor," Yuan commented, breaking the silence. "He's not an expert on herbs for nothing."

"Wait, you can cure the poison?" Genis replied, looking up at the seraph. "Why didn't you say so?"

Kratos simply raised his right hand and slapped his forehead.

Sheena just sighed. "If you guys had been paying attention, Kratos had said that he had a poisoned half-elf to cure. Which means he knows how to cleanse Raine of this poison."

"Oh."

"Wow, you're an expert on herbs, Dad?" Lloyd commented out of a sudden.

At that point, Kratos couldn't take it anymore and started swearing in angelic. It was only after Noishe had decided to stand up and shoo everyone else away from Raine did the seraph calm down.

Only when things had finally settled down was Kratos truly able to concentrate and started making the antidote. Pulling out a bunch of herbs out from his herb pack, he started compounding them together. The others scrambled off to start setting up camp, seeing as how they would most likely be here overnight.

Yuan helped Sheena into a better position so as not to aggravate her injured ribs further. The half-elf had took off his blue cape and folded it into a pillow for the ninja. He laid her head down on it, told her not to move and breathe slowly, leaving her arms at the side. Almost immediately, Sheena felt a bit better.

"The pain isn't that intense anymore, and I feel so much more at ease," Sheena commented, as she laid down on the ground. "How did you know this would lessen the pain?"

"Through experience," Yuan replied as he took out some gels from his pack. "Kratos had asked me to do the same thing when I injured my ribs," Yuan laughed as the half-elf started using the gels he had took out on any other wounds that was present on the Shinobi.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah," Yuan muttered in reply. "Kratos' healing magic may not be powerful, but his knowledge more than makes up for it. I picked up basic first aid from him, I'll have you know."

"I may be wrong, but the two of you seem to be very close," Sheena commented.

"You don't know the half of it..." Yuan mumbled softly as he finished up. "This is the best I can do. As for the ribs, that would be Kratos' job." He then stood up and proceeded to see if there was anything else the seraph could help out with.

"Yuan, thanks a lot," Sheena said.

"Yeah, not a problem at all. It's the least I could do to help Kratos out while he is busy healing someone else."

OoOoOoO

She slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was darkness. Then several twinkles of light appeared among the darkness. As she blinked her eyes several times more, she realised that she was looking up at the night sky. At that point, she tried to sit up. But her body was still weak. Weak from what? She wasn't sure. The last thing she remembered before she passed out was that she had shielded Genis from an attack and passed out soon after. Finally, after much effort, she managed to sit up.

"Raine, you're finally awake," A voice said beside her.

"Ugh...Sheena, what happened...I feel so lousy..." Raine muttered, as she turned to look at the ninja.

"You got poisoned when you shielded Genis from an attack from the Murk Dragon," Sheena replied as she moved her hands around, as if searching for something.

While Sheena was fumbling around for whatever she was looking for, Raine suddenly remembered about the Shinobi's injured ribs. "Sheena! Your ribs! I still need to look at them!"

Sheena had turned back around to face Raine after she found what she was looking for. After staring at the half-elf for a few seconds, she realised what the Professor was talking about.

"Oh, don't worry about them," Sheena replied as she pulled her clothes down a little so that Raine could see. The ninja's body was covered with bandages, all very expertly and professionally wrapped, as if it was done by a doctor. "Kratos patched it up very nicely. Luckily, none of the bones got fractured, or it would have taken months to heal."

Raine stared at the former summoner. "Kratos? But isn't he...?"

"Yeah, but both he and Yuan are walking the lands of Symphonia," Sheena replied as she turned to face camp.

Seeing the Shinobi do that, Raine did the same. It was then she spotted the two Cruxis Seraphim which Sheena was talking about. Yuan was busy typing on his computer and was so focused on what he was doing that he couldn't care less what was happening around him. Kratos was talking to Lloyd and noticed the seraph handing something over to her former student. After taking a look at it, the Eternal Swordsman had ran off to where Colette and Noishe were, sat down, started chatting with them and showing them the item that his father had given him. And Genis was chatting with someone Raine didn't know. But even from this distance and her weakened state, the half-elf scholar could still sense the stranger's mana signature. And she realised that the stranger was an elf.

"An elf? What is he doing here?" Raine asked, quite surprised at seeing an elf so far away from home.

"Oh, you mean Keele Silverlance?" Sheena replied as she started to drink from the bottle which she had hunted down just a few minutes ago. "He was with Kratos and Yuan when they came to save us," Sheena continued as she lowered the bottle from her lips. "If Noishe hadn't went to get them, you would probably be dead by now."

"Dead?"

"The poison was deadly," Sheena replied and she held the bottle with both of her hands. "Kratos was the one who cured it. According to what he said, you would be feeling weak from the after effects of the poison when you wake up. He had informed me to tell you of that in case you started questioning about the weakened state of your body."

"I see..." Raine replied. "It seems like his knowledge of healing is so much greater than mine," Raine mused as she closed her eyes. "I've always relied on my healing spells to heal and didn't learn much in the ways of first aid or herbs as a form of healing. I guess without knowledge, even the most powerful healing spell can be useless."

"Yeah, but you're a good healer too," Sheena said as she laid down on the grass, turning to look at the night sky. "It's not as if you do not know anything about herbs or first aid. Your skills as a healer saved us more than once during the time we travelled together five years ago. Besides! Kratos has had more than 4000 years of experience as a healer. He's mearly very much more experienced than you."

"Very, very, much more experienced," Raine added. It was then she felt bored and decided to run her left hand over her fingers on her right hand. As the half-elf did that, she felt something foreign on one of them. Curious, the scholar turned to observe the object that was on it and realised that it was a ring with a blue-colored gem fixed on it. Upon closer inspection, Raine recognised the gem that was on it. An aquamarine. But what was this doing on her finger?

"Sheena, does this ring belong to you?" Raine asked, as the Shinobi was the nearest to her and also due to the fact that the ring on her finger was the proof of the pact with the Summon Spirit of Water.

"Huh? What ring?" Sheena asked as she sat back up and turned to look at Raine. Realisation dawned on the former summoner when she saw the half-elf staring at the ring on one of her fingers on her right hand and then turning back to look at the ninja. "Oh. You were talking about the aquamarine," Sheena muttered as she brushed her hair with her right hand. "It's not mine. I no longer have the ring of pacts, remember?"

"Then who does it belong to? You're the only summoner among us," Raine asked, puzzled.

Sheena shook her head. "It belongs to Kratos. He used it to temporarily halt the poison that was flowing through your body."

"What? He's a summoner? How did he do that? In all my years of study, I've never read that the aquamarine could do that!" Raine had said all that in one breath. Unable to reply the half-elf teacher, Sheena simply shrugged, leaving Raine baffled.

"You simply tap into Undine's power and call it forth to protect the one who is wearing the aquamarine. Of course, only a High Summoner can tap into a Summon Spirit's power in this manner."

Both Sheena and Raine nearly jumped from that. They were so absorbed with their chatter that they didn't notice anyone coming up towards them.

"K-Kratos! I didn't see you coming!" Sheena cried as she placed her hand over her chest. "My heart nearly jumped out!"

"You need to stop shocking people like that..." Raine muttered as she was the first one to recover.

"Oh? So it's my fault now?" Kratos murmured as he sat down. "I mearly came over to see how you two were doing, seeing as the others didn't need my help or felt like talking to me."

"Well, you didn't have to come up to us so quietly!" Sheena muttered, a bit flustered as she calmed down.

Kratos decided not to reply the ninja as he held out a bowl of soup for Raine. Being so close to the Giant Tree had somehow unnerved the seraph. He felt so uneasy. Perhaps it was because he was able to feel the taint so clearly, so strongly, even though it wasn't that serious at this point in time. And Kratos wasn't so sure why. It's almost like he could feel the Yggdrasill Tree crying out in pain to him, as if he could feel what the tree was feeling right now.

"Is this for me?" Raine's voice came drifting into the seraph's thoughts, and almost immediately, he remembered why he had came over.

"Yes. This will help you recover from the after effects of the poison faster," Kratos replied as he placed the bowl of soup into Raine's outstretched hands who took them gratefully. Kratos watched her as the half-elf took a sip.

The half-elf teacher had finished the soup in just five minutes. It was right at that moment Raine remembered something. Placing the bowl on the grass, the scholar proceeded to remove the ring that was on her finger and handed it over to Kratos. "I believe this belongs to you?"

"Thank you," Kratos replied as he took the aquamarine from Raine's hands and put it back into his pouch. Then he turned to stare at the grass, and decided to poke it out of boredom and also to let out some of his uneasiness.

"What's wrong, Kratos?" Sheena asked softly, noticing his action towards the grass. "You seem...uneasy..."

Raine had noticed too and decided to have a say in the conversation. "Yes. This is so unlike you. Care to tell us what's wrong?"

Kratos turned to look up at the both of them. Were they actually trying to make conversation with him? Someone whom they thought to be cold and uncaring? But then, after all that they had went through, the seraph doubted that they still thought of him that way, especially since they know that it isn't the real him, but a mask and a wall he had put on himself. Now was different. They treated him as a comrade and a friend, someone who they could trust, who they could entrust their lives with.

"It's the tree..." Kratos started as he turned his gaze towards the Giant Yggdrasill Tree. "I know someone is trying to harm the tree, trying to kill it by tainting its mana flow..."

"You know about the taint?" Raine questioned, turning to face the seraph who was still staring at the Giant Tree.

Kratos nodded. "That's why both Yuan and I are back here, in-order to stop it. But not even we know who or what is causing this, or what we are going up against."

"How did you come back here from Derris-Kharlan?" Sheena asked, as she too turned to look at the seraph.

Kratos turned and looked at his right wrist. After staring at it for a few minutes, he raised it into the air and the golden armlet on it glinted in the moonlight. Both females followed the angel's movement and noticed the armlet under the moonlight. "This armlet...has the power to transcend space."

"To transcend space?" Both Sheena and Raine asked at the same time. They turned to look at each other and let out a silent giggle.

"How?" Raine continued.

"A Summon Spirit imbued it with the power to transcend space and gave it to me, so that Yuan and I can come back to Symphonia," Kratos explained as he lowered his right arm back down.

"Origin?" Sheena asked.

"No," Kratos replied. "A Summon Spirit known only to High Summoners. A Summon Spirit so powerful that his power can only be called upon and controlled by a High Summoner. The Summon Spirit of Time, Sekundes."

"The Summon Spirit of Time? I've never heard of that one," Raine mused. "He possesses the power to transcend time and space I presume?"

"Yes," Kratos replied, nodding slowly. "He's also the Summon Spirit that give the Eternal Sword its power to transcend time and space."

"Hmm, this...Sekundes, I've never heard of him either," Sheena said, turning her attention to Kratos. "But, what exactly is a High Summoner?"

"A High Summoner is simply a more powerful type of summoner," Kratos replied without moving. "However, being a Summoner doesn't necessarily mean you can be a High Summoner. Only a pure-blooded summoner can be one."

"What exactly is a pure-blooded summoner?"

"A pure-blooded summoner is a summoner born to the Summoner Clan between two other Summoners from the clan. The Summoner Clan is relatively small, as only pure-blooded summoners can be part of it and even then, there were very few pure-blooded summoners."

"Any chance that I'm a pure-blood?" Sheena asked with curiosity filled in her voice.

"No," Kratos replied flatly.

"How would you know?"

"Because...they were destroyed during the Kharlan War..." Kratos replied bitterly as he gripped the grass tightly with his right hand. "Because we refused to side with Tethe'alla in the war. Because we were neutral. Just because we resided in Tethe'alla, that doesn't make us his soldiers that will do his bidding! That bastard king, he just wanted to use our power in order to win the war! But the power of a summoner is not to be used for one's own selfish gains, he didn't understand that and just---!"

"Kratos!" Sheena cried, gripping her hands on his left arm. "Stop, don't talk about it if it's hurting you!"

Kratos gritted his teeth as soon as he heard that. "I'm sorry...I thought I've gotten over it, but I guess not...I shouldn't be dwelling on it. It's been more than 4000 years since it happened..."

Sheena felt bad as the Shinobi removed her hands from Kratos' arm. She hadn't realised that asking that would open up an old wound from Kratos' past. Even though she knew the angel wouldn't blame her, that he knew that she just wanted to find out more about her possible past and where she could have come from, she still felt bad about it. Then she decided to change the subject. "Well, what can a high summoner do that normal summoners can't?"

Kratos closed his eyes, bent his legs up, hugged them and rested his chin on his knees. "A high summoner possesses a stronger bond with the Summon Spirts they have formed pacts with. They are able to understand the Summon Spirit and their true nature. Because of this, a summon performed in battle by a high summoner is by far more powerful than a summon performed in battle by a normal summoner. This understanding and bond also enables a high summoner to call upon the true power of a Summon Spirit."

"Is that why when you summoned Gnome, it looks different from how I summon him?" Sheena asked curiously.

"No. How a Summon Spirit performs his or her attack when summoned into battle depends on the summoner summoning the Summon Spirit."

"I see..." Sheena murmured. "What type of summon is it called when a high summoner calls upon the true power of a Summon Spirit?"

"High Summon," Kratos replied without moving. "High Summon is triggered through the feelings of the High Summoner at that point in time. A High Summon represents the feelings of the High Summoner. That is the true meaning of High Summon."

"Wow, high summoners sound powerful..."

"They can be, if their heart is strong..." Kratos murmured.

"Do you consider yourself strong, as a High Summoner?" Raine asked out of the blue.

"No..." Kratos muttered, still not moving from his spot. "...at least not my heart."

Both Raine and Sheena blinked at the seraph. For as long as they've known him, they had never thought that he felt that way about himself. But they knew better. Kratos was someone who would go through any lengths to protect those and anything that were important to him, just like how he was protective of Lloyd. And that alone gives him a purpose, a reason to fight, and a reason to be strong.

"Well," Raine started, deciding to change the subject. "That still doesn't explain why you're feeling so uneasy being near the Giant Tree."

"The tree is crying out in pain..." Kratos replied, almost in a whisper. "...and I can feel it."

"Hmm, I don't feel anything," Raine replied, staring quizzically at the seraph. "Only the taint present in the mana flow."

"I think..." Kratos muttered as he turned to look up at the sky. "...it's because I have a pact with Verius, that's why I'm feeling it. Unconsciously feeling what Verius feels...from the bond between a High Summoner and the Summon Spirit."

"Co-Corrine?" Sheena stammered, nearly falling over in shock.

"Corrine no longer exists. His death has awakened Verius," Kratos murmured as he turned back and rested his chin on his knees once more. "In a way, Corrine has been reborn as Verius. Didn't he already explain that to you back at the Martel Temple?"

"Yes, but..."

"I know both you and Corrine are very close, but in the process, you got to know more people whom you were able to call your friends, just like you were able to call him your friend."

"Corrine was my very first and true friend..." Sheena muttered as she turned away. The Shinobi felt like crying, but decided that she wouldn't.

Kratos closed his eyes. He knew exactly how Sheena felt. Yuan had been his first true friend. The seraph wouldn't be able to imagine what would happen if he were to lose him. They had been together for so long. Even though, because of Mithos, they had drifted apart for a while, but they were still close to each other. They had supported each other through tough times for the past 4000 years. Yuan was the only one who cared when he had lost his family. If he were to lose his best friend, the seraph would be devastated, just like when he had lost Anna and Lloyd. Even though Yuan wasn't the one who restored Kratos' will to fight against Mithos once again, but when he had found out that Lloyd was still alive, Yuan was still important to him, just as he was important to the half-elf. Otherwise why would he have saved the summoner's life back at Torent Forest when he released Origin's seal?

After brooding for a few more minutes, Kratos finally stood up, finally deciding that he could do nothing about his uneasiness. During that time, Raine had knew better and did not say a word, leaving both Sheena and Kratos to their thoughts, trying to think of a way that might help save the Giant Tree. After the seraph stood up, both the half-elf and former summoner turned to look up at him.

"I think we all better turn in for the night," Kratos muttered as he turned to look at where the others were. "I'll let all of you know what we've been up to tomorrow."

Raine nodded in agreement and laid back down, trying to get some sleep. The soup that Kratos had given her earlier had helped the half-elf teacher regain some of her energy, but she knew that she would still need to take a good night's rest in-order to fully recover.

"What about the night watch?" Sheena asked suddenly, staring at the seraph who had his back turned on her.

"Don't worry about it," Kratos simply replied. "The two of you need your rest to fully recover from your wounds, as do the others. Verius can protect us while we rest."

"Alright..." Sheena muttered as she too laid down to get to sleep, trying not to think too much about Corrine anymore. After all, Kratos was right. After Corrine's death, she knew that Lloyd and the others were true friends, just like Corrine was. They had stayed by her and encouraged her when the artificial Summon Spirit had sacrificed himself to protect Sheena, just so that she could form a pact with Volt. And she had been grateful for that.

"Sleep well," Kratos murmured as he made his way back to the others.

OoOoOoO

"Yuan, wake up!"

"Mmph...Five more minutes..."

"Why is it always five more minutes?"

"I like the number five..." Yuan murmured in his sleep.

Kratos growled silently to himself as he thought of a way to threaten the half-elf awake. "Stupid half-elf..." The seraph added in as an afterthought. Then Kratos remembered how he used to wake Yuan up during the Kharlan War days whenever the half-elf did this. It was simple, yet effective. Although the summoner wasn't sure whether it would work now, but still, he was going to give it a shot.

The angel stood up and silently began to gather mana. Yuan, feeling the shift in the mana, twitched slightly in his sleep, trying to figure out what was up with the sudden shift in the mana flow. The flow was somehow very familiar to the half-elf. After pondering for a while, Yuan remembered what it was. Kratos was going to summon Undine! Realising what his best friend was going to do to him, Yuan quickly shot up at break neck speed, and was awake in an instant.

"Okay! I'm up, I'm up!" Yuan screamed for his life as he waved his hands in the air. "Don't summon Undine on me!"

Satisfied that his ancient method of waking Yuan still worked, Kratos stopped his attempt to summon. "You stayed up to work on that radar, didn't you?"

Yuan muttered something incoherently under his breath as he tried to get his thoughts together. After putting his hair in place, the half-elf gave a "yeah" as his reply to Kratos' question.

"Still unable to get it to work?"

"I managed to reduce the number of results the radar returns me..." Yuan mumbled sleepily. "But there were still too many of them for it to be of any use..."

"Alright. I'm going to tell the others what we've been up to and was happening. You better go wash up, and then get your breakfast from Keele."

"Okay..." Yuan mumbled as he nodded, still not fully awake and alert, but was still aware of what was happening around him.

Kratos made his way to where Lloyd and the others were waiting. He noticed that they were chattering amongst themselves. When Sheena saw the seraph approaching, the ninja shushed everyone else just as if a teacher was about to get into the classroom and start his lesson. Even Noishe was present and was sitting beside Lloyd. The Eternal Swordsman absent-mindedly patted the protozoan as he watched his father sit down and address them.

"I assume that you all already know about the Giant Tree slowly being tainted?"

"The Professor and Genis told us all about it!" Colette piped up, waving her right arm in the air.

"And it will kill Yggdrasill Tree if it's not stopped..." Lloyd muttered softly. Thanks to his angelic hearing, Kratos heard his son perfectly.

"And that's the reason why Yuan and I are here," Kratos continued as he closed his eyes. "To stop this taint..."

"How did you know about it in the first place?" Genis asked, raising his hand high up into the air to indicate that he had asked a question.

"It was Martel, or Mana if you prefer..." Kratos replied, almost murmuring. "Verius, the Summon Spirit of Heart, sensed a certain distress from her and found out about the taint. Actually, Martel had asked Verius to send a message to the Eternal Swordsman about this, but Sekundes, the Summon Spirit of Time had intervened and told Verius to send the message to me instead. Sekundes then confronted both Yuan and I, gave me the power to transcend space, and we came back here to meet with Verius. It was due to what Sekundes had said to him and by his suggestion that we seek the Summon Spirits and I was to form pacts with them. Till now, we have no idea what role will the Summon Spirits play in all this, but it was better than sitting around and doing nothing."

"What did Sekundes say to Verius?" Raine asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

"He had said that they would need my power, my power as a high summoner..." Kratos muttered softly, but it was loud enough for everyone to hear.

"But why did Cor-uhh, I mean, Verius form a pact with you?" Sheena asked, nearly calling Verius Corrine again. "Didn't he say that he didn't want to be bonded to a summoner?"

"I wasn't the one who requested the pact. It was Verius," Kratos replied as he closed his eyes and rested his chin on his crossed hands. "No matter what, Verius is still a Summon Spirit. What Sekundes had said about needing my power as a high summoner was the reason Verius requested that I form that pact."

"Well, it makes total sense, don't you agree, Sheena?" Raine said.

"Well, yeah..." Sheena replied, voice trailing off.

"Currently, which Summon Spirits do you have pacts with?" Genis asked.

Kratos really felt like as if he was a teacher conducting a lecture right now. Cause, it was clearly turning into one. He was the teacher while Lloyd, Colette, Genis, Raine and Sheena were the students. And it was kinda screwed up in his opinion, specially since Raine was supposed to be a teacher, but right now...she was a student.

"Verius, Undine and Gnome," Kratos replied, putting his thoughts aside.

"Now here comes a major question..." Raine started as she tapped her finger on her chin. "How do you find the Summon Spirits now that they're no longer acting as seals?"

"With the exception of Maxwell and Origin, whom you could always call out to at where their tablets are placed, the rest of them wanders around the world. In order to find them, you need to locate the place with a high concentration of that particular mana. That's where they are. The moment you find them, you need to act quickly as they may move before you reach them. How long a Summon Spirit will stay at that area depends entirely on the Summon Spirit. Sometimes for a few days or weeks, and sometimes, for months."

"If Origin and Maxwell can always be approached from same place, why don't you form pacts with them first?" Sheena asked this time.

Before Kratos replied, he noticed that Lloyd and Colette had been silent up till now. He wondered if there were anything wrong with them, or could they be worried about something, he wasn't sure. At that moment, he wasn't able to read the expressions on their faces. But the seraph didn't brood on it for too long. If it was something serious, the angel would have noticed. It was probably no big deal.

"Sheena," Kratos started, turning his attention back to the ninja and the two half-elf siblings. "Remember what you needed to do before Maxwell appeared before us?"

"Uhh...I needed to proof that I control Earth, Fire, Wind and Water," Sheena replied, recalling the events of when she had formed a pact with Maxwell.

"That's good, you remember," Kratos nodded as he continued. "But that requirement is only for a normal summoner. For high summoner, the requirements are much...higher."

"But it wasn't mentioned on the tablet?" Sheena said, quite surprised at Kratos' revelation.

"It's because we were taught the requirements and had to remember them. It's the way of the Summoner Clan. It is also an understanding between the High Summoner and the Summon Spirit. As a High Summoner is blessed by the Summon Spirits, the Spirits' expectations of them are also...higher."

"So...what are the requirements?" Sheena asked as she nodded in understanding.

"In order for me to form a pact with Maxwell, I must proof that I have pacts with all the eight elements. And in order for me to form a pact with Origin, I must proof that I have a pact with the master of the elements, namely Maxwell."

"Wait a minute... Doesn't that mean you need a pact with all of the other Summon Spirits before you can form a pact with Maxwell and Origin?" Sheena gasped as took in what Kratos had said. "Is a high summoner that much more powerful than a normal summoner?"

Kratos simply nodded. "And before any of you ask, Origin is more powerful than Maxwell. It's just that Origin's true power is too difficult for a normal summoner to control, so he tones it down somewhat to match the strength of the summoner."

"Then what about Sekundes?" Raine asked. "You mentioned that he's a very powerful Summon Spirit, and he can only be controlled by a high summoner. Can't he tone down his power just like Origin does?"

"No, he can't," Kratos replied, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "Origin possesses the power of creation, while Sekundes possesses the power of time and space. While the strength of creation can be controlled, the power of time and space cannot. That is why Sekundes is unable to reduce his power output, and whoever challenges him will always have to fight him at his full power."

"Wow, doesn't that mean Sekundes would be really tough to beat?" Sheena said in awe. "We're gonna have a tough time..."

"Actually..." Kratos said softly as he bowed his head to look at the grass. "I'm trying to avoid forming a pact with him if possible..."

Both Sheena and Raine stared at the seraph. Knowing him, he probably had a very good reason for saying that, and decided not to probe further into it and kept quiet.

"Don't worry Dad! We'll worry about it when the time comes!" Lloyd shouted enthusiastically, finally deciding to say something.

"Umm, yeah, what Lloyd said!" Colette added happily.

Kratos couldn't help but smile at their direction as his show of thanks. Then he turned back to the others and asked whether there were any more questions that they wanted to ask. And all of them shook their head.

"Hmm, Raine," Genis started as he turned to his older sister. "I remember sensing a great concentration of lightning mana somewhere along the way when we were making our way here."

"Yeah...I remember it..." Raine muttered.

Kratos turned towards the direction where the Sage siblings were sitting. "Do you remember where it was?"

"Umm, we don't know the exact spot," Genis started, tapping his finger on his chin. "But I do remember roughly where it was."

"That's good enough," Kratos replied as he stood up. "That might be where Volt is. We'll head there as soon as all of us are ready." Then the seraph turned and made his way to where Yuan and Keele were.

"Wow, his reaction to a possible location of a Summon Spirit is astounding..." Raine muttered, quite surprised at the angel's behaviour.

"I think Dad just wants to save this world as much as we all do..." Lloyd replied silently, clasping his hands together and staring at it. "He had the same reaction when we discussed how to stop the Giant Tree when it went crazy. And he was all for it without a second thought. I never really thought that deep into it, but I think he cares about this world a great deal..."

"Just like Martel..." Colette whispered.

"Anyway, we should get ready," Sheena said with an excited tone of voice as she stood up. "I want to know what Kratos' vow is like."

"I wonder if it's a great vow?" Lloyd said, all smiles on his face.

"We'll just have to find out, won't we?" Raine added as she stood up and shooed them all off to get ready.

OoOoOoO

"We felt the mana concentration around here," Raine replied as she stopped at what looked like the ruins of a city. Then she decided to clasp her hands together and started talking excitedly. "I saw this ruins while we were passing through here! Now is my chance to explore the place!"

"Uh oh," Genis muttered and started to panic in his mind. Both Lloyd and Colette were also standing beside the younger Sage and too felt the panic in the half-elf's mind.

"She's not going to go 'Ruin Mode' on us, is she?" Lloyd sighed, bowing his head slightly and shaking it, with his hands slumped in-front of him.

"I think she is..." Genis muttered in reply as he watch Raine ogled over a tablet she just found, trying to figure something out.

Kratos' eyes darted around, taking in the scene before him. Tablets, ruined stones, fallen pillars lay before him as he surveyed his surroundings. Just then, the summoner clenched and unclenched his fist, muttering something to himself, in a language only which he himself and the Summon Spirits understood.

Yuan, who had noticed this act, placed a worried hand on his friend's shoulder. "Kratos, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Kratos replied softly as he tried to stop thinking about something. But the truth was, something was wrong. The summoner knew this place. This was the place where he was born, and it had been his home, before something happened. This was the home of the Summoner Clan, Polaris. Of course, no one else but him knew this.

Shrugging, Yuan took his hand off Kratos' shoulder, walked a bit ahead of the summoner and took out his PortNav. Yuan flipped it open with a "beep" and got it to scan for any other mana signatures other than their's nearby. The half-elf did that because the mana concentration that he was feeling was quite faint, and he was unable to tell which direction it came from. After walking around for about a minute or so, he finally got a result on screen. But the direction in which he got a response from puzzled the seraph. It had lead towards the sea.

"Funny, is the radar broken?" Yuan muttered as he pressed some buttons on the keypad of his PortNav, trying to figure out what was wrong with it.

Kratos shook thoughts of his past away from his mind when he heard his half-elf friend say that. There was no point in thinking about it. All of that is now history to him. No matter how much he thought about it, there was no way he could change the past. Right now, he must focus on the present and the future, and that's all it matters right now.

"What's wrong, Yuan?" Kratos asked as he walked up to the other seraph.

"The radar," Yuan started as he stopped pressing buttons on the keypad and pointed to the screen. "The mana signature it's detecting is coming from the direction towards the sea..."

"Wha? Coming from the direction of the sea?" Keele said out of a sudden, peering over Yuan's shoulder, looking at his PortNav. The elf had been following the two seraphim from behind all the time before he had said a single word. "Hmm, you're right... But there's nothing there...right?"

"No," Kratos said softly, realising where the direction the radar had detected the mana signature was, and what laid there.

"Wha? You mean that there's actually something there?" Keele gasped in surprise.

Kratos simply nodded in response, walked towards the direction of the sea, and called for the others to follow him. Of course, Yuan, Keele and Sheena were all quick to follow, but Lloyd, Colette and Genis, after struggling for a few minutes, and with a little help from Noishe, finally managed to pry Raine Sage from the tablet she had been ogling over and followed them. Noishe simply waited by the tablet though, as if guarding it, just in case Raine came back and started examining it again. When he reached the cliff that overlooked the sea, Kratos stopped, and the others behind him followed suit.

"I don't get it..." Keele muttered. "Is there supposed to be something here?"

"I have no clue..." Lloyd replied, as he too was equally puzzled with his father's actions just like the others were. Yuan simply kept silent and stared at his PortNav intently. For as long as he had known Kratos, there was one thing the half-elf was sure of. Kratos always knew what he was doing. Well, seeing that the PortNav had registered that they were getting closer to the mana signature, he couldn't really complain about it, could he?

Kratos said nothing in reply and raised his left hand. _"By the oath which I have sworn to the Summon Spirits, with my rank as a High Summoner, I reveal to you, the symbol of the High Summoner, and I ask of you to open the way to the Sanctuary of the Summoners,"_ Kratos recited without lowering his left hand.

Everyone looked on at the summoner with confusion on their faces. Kratos had spoken in a language in which not a single one of them understood, and started wondering what the seraph had said.

"You know," Sheena started, folding her arms across her chest. "It sounds awfully like the language in which Volt spoke in..."

"Is that so?" Genis replied, then turning to face his older sister. "Raine, does that means you can understand what Kratos is saying?"

"Well..." Raine started, tapping her finger on her chin. "I do understand a little of it, but not the entire incantation Kratos had said. The language he spoke in would be the original language which the Summon Spirits had used since ancient times. I didn't study very deeply into it, and only know the basic words, which, at that time, were enough to help Sheena see her through in making her pact with Volt. What Kratos spoke was much more profound. He's saying something about an oath, a symbol and a sanctuary..."

Just then, the exsphere on Kratos' left hand glowed a light blue, and the ground in-front of the summoner lighted up, as if responding to the exsphere, and revealed a set of stairs, leading further underground.

"Whoa!" Lloyd and Keele exclaimed at the same time.

"Wow, there's a hidden set of stairs here?" Colette said in awe.

"A sanctuary?" Raine muttered again. Then she suddenly had a theory on this place which they were at, and decided to ask Kratos and confirm this. The half-elf scholar simply walked up to the seraph, grabbed his left wrist, and held it up, examining the exsphere on his hand.

Kratos was clearly very surprised by this, and mouthed a quick, "Raine?"

"This is the symbol you were talking about...is it not?" The half-elf asked the seraph curiously.

Kratos was quite surprised that Raine knew what he was talking about just a few moments ago. "Wait, you understand what I just said?"

"Not on the whole, but I understood the parts where you mentioned 'oath', 'symbol' and 'sanctuary'."

Kratos took left his hand away from Raine and placed it back at his side. "You understand a bit of the ancient language of the Summon Spirits, that's quite a surprise."

"If she didn't, I would never have been able to form a pact with Volt..." Sheena said with a sigh, tilting her head slightly towards the ground.

Kratos turned to look at the former summoner, then turned to look at the sea. "It's a bad habit of Volt's. He simply refuses to speak in the language which the world uses." Then he turned back towards the half-elf professor. "And yes, the exsphere on my left hand is a symbol. The symbol of a High Summoner. A Spirit Sphere."

"That means that exsphere on your hand isn't an exsphere?" Genis asked curiously.

"It's an exsphere that is infused with the mana of the Summon Spirits," Kratos replied, resting his hands on his waist and turning to look at the sea again. "It is actually still a dormant exsphere. It acts as more of a symbol rather than an exsphere."

"Hmm...interesting..." Raine muttered as she tapped a finger on her chin. "But why do you need a key crest for it?"

Kratos raised his left hand and turned to look at the Spirit Sphere. "The runes that are carved on the key crest are actually summoning amplifiers used for high summoning."

"But you said that high summon is triggered by the feelings of the high summoner," Sheena asked, quite puzzled at Kratos' explanation.

"It is," Kratos replied, putting his left hand down once again. "There are twelve different runes carved onto the key crest, each representing a single Summon Spirit. One of the runes represents Verius' power, which in turn, works with the other runes for high summoning. The runes also protect the Spirit Sphere, and it can only be given and removed by the Summon Spirits."

"So it's stuck on you?" Keele asked from behind the angel.

"Kind of," Kratos replied. "The Summon Spirits only remove it when either the high summoner has passed on, or when he or she has broken their oath as a high summoner."

"So, that's what the 'oath' meant..." Raine muttered, running her left hand through her hair.

Hey, dad," Lloyd piped up, staring at his father curiously. "I always thought that exsphere on your hand is your Cruxis Crystal. If that exsphere on your hand isn't your Cruxis Crystal, where do you...uhh...what's the word...equip it?"

Without saying a word in reply, Kratos simply placed his right hand over his chest, just below his neck, where everyone, including Lloyd, could see.

"Then these stairs..." Raine started as she pointed to the stairs that lead underground. "...lead to the 'sanctuary'?"

"Yes, they lead to the Sanctuary of the Summoners," Kratos replied as he placed his right hand back at his side and turned to look at the stairs leading their way into the darkness.

"Wait a minute," Sheena gasped as she heard what Kratos had said. "Sanctuary of the Summoners? Doesn't that mean that these ruins is the home of the Summoner Clan?"

Kratos simply nodded in reply. Yuan, who had said nothing this whole time, at that moment, realised what was wrong with Kratos just now. Seeing this place had brought back some of his best friend's bad memories, and he had been thinking about it, with a certain bitterness to his thoughts. Deciding not to bring up the subject, the half-elf turned back to the stairs, and directed his PortNav towards it.

"Shall we go?" Yuan asked.

As if taking Yuan's hint, Kratos turned and walked towards the stairs, started descending them, leading the way.

After descending for quite a while, the stairs finally ended and led onto flat ground. Everyone, except Kratos, had felt like as if they've been walking downwards for the longest time. It was quite a long set of steps, and most of them had wondered how they will be able to climb back up.

"I wonder how far down are we?" Sheena asked, surveying her surroundings, although there wasn't too much to see. All the ninja could see was walls made out of rocks, just like any other normal cave. And ahead of her was a tunnel, leading deeper into the cave.

"Wow, are we right under the sea?" Colette asked curiously, running a bit ahead, and accidentally...tripped and fell on her face. "Oops!"

Lloyd was beside the former Chosen of Sylvarant in an instant. "Colette, are you okay?"

"Umm yeah!" Colette replied cheerily as she got up. "I guess I'm still as clumsy as ever!"

"It would be the end of the world if Colette ever stops tripping..." Genis muttered softly to no one in particular. Kratos had heard the younger Sage though, but decided against saying something about it.

"Wow! This cavern is HUGE!" A voice echoed from just further down the cave. "I wonder if there are any rare artifacts to be found down here?"

"Uh oh..." Genis muttered. "There she goes again..."

"Raine actually went ahead of us?" Sheena murmured. "I guess she'll never change..."

"What are they talking about?" Keele asked, confused as to what was going on.

"I don't think you want to know..." Yuan, who was standing beside the elf, whispered softly.

"I can summarise it in two words for you though," Kratos offered, hoping that it would explain everything to the elf. "Archaeological Maniac."

"That explains a lot..." Keele replied, scratching his head.

"The Professor really loves ruins!" Colette exclaimed after getting up with the help of Lloyd. She ran up to catch up with Raine and see what the half-elf teacher had saw. Worried about her safety, Lloyd sighed and ran ahead to catch up with the former Chosen. Worried that his sister might do something weird, Genis followed suit.

"I guess we should catch up to them," Sheena said, turning to the trio, giving them a nod and decided to go on ahead as well. Keele ran after the ninja, yelling something like he was curious too and wanted to see what was ahead of them.

At that time, Yuan had decided to put his PortNav away as he was able to sense a high concentration of mana nearing them. "We better catch up to the others. The mana signature is getting stronger," Yuan said as he turned towards Kratos. But he noticed that his friend wasn't moving, and the expression on the summoner's face was as if he was thinking very hard at that moment. "Kratos?"

"Something is wrong with Volt," Kratos said in response. "He's showing hostility towards us as he approaches, and I think he's going to attack us! We need to get to the others now!"

Without even questioning his friend, both seraphim dashed towards where the others were, which apparently was a huge cavern.

OoOoOoO

"This is amazing! I must decipher this and see what it says..."

"I'll help you Professor!" Colette said happily as she went to where Raine was.

"Why thank you, Colette," Raine said. "You can start by helping me write those words down."

"Even Colette is interested in whatever Professor Sage is doing..." Lloyd muttered. Genis simply shook his head and Sheena was walking around to see whether Volt was nearby. It was hard since she was unable to sense mana signatures nor the mana flow, so all she could do was wander around aimlessly.

"I give up..." Genis muttered as he shook his head. "I guess the saying 'Birds of a feather flock together' holds true right now..."

But Keele wasn't paying attention to anything that the others were doing nor what they were saying. The elf was concentrating hard on something. A high power lightning mana based attack seemed to be coming towards them. Without giving it a second thought, Keele yelled for everyone to duck.

But the elf's warning came too late. Keele was able to evade the attack, but the others weren't so lucky. They were all blown back by sudden lightning blasts. Sheena got off lightly though. Her speed had saved her and had managed to regain her footing quickly, trying to face their attacker. And the former summoner was surprised at what she saw. A purple ball made out of pure lightning was floating in-front of them. It was the Summon Spirit of Lightning, Volt.

_'What are you doing here? Our pact has already been fulfilled, and I will not make another pact for as long as this world lives. You have no reason to be here!'_

"Raine!" Sheena yelled, suddenly frantic. "What's Volt saying?"

Quickly picking herself up, Raine tried quickly to figure out what Volt was saying. But many of the words the half-elf had not come across before, so she was only able to decipher a few of them. "Volt's saying something about your fulfilled pact with him, and is asking what are we doing here. I can't make out the rest!"

Nodding, Sheena turned back to face Volt. "We've come for another pact with you, Volt!"

_'No, I will not form another pact.'_

"Volt's saying no," Raine translated as she scanned around for anybody that might have been injured from Volt's previous attack and was relieved that no one was as the others slowly got up. Keele was looking around for both Kratos and Yuan, but the two angels were no where to be seen.

"What? Why?" Sheena questioned the Summon Spirit of Lightning. "If you didn't want to form a pact in the first place, then why did you agree to establish one with me five years ago?"

_'Because I killed Verius' temporary form when he protected you, that's why I agreed to the pact.'_

"Volt's saying that he only agreed to the pact when he killed someone," Raine said. "I have no idea who though!"

"I don't care what happened before that made you agree to establish that pact with me, but we need your power again! The Giant Tree is dying! And we're trying to find out the cause of it and stop it!" Sheena argued, swinging her arm to the her back.

_'It doesn't matter. Even if we form the pact, there is no way you can possibly defeat the enemy in the first place. You are not powerful enough as a summoner. Now leave!'_

"What's Volt saying now?" Sheena asked the Professor once again. But this time, the half-elf shook her head, signalling that she too was lost with Volt's previous sentence.

"She's not the one that's going to form a pact with you, Volt! I am the one that is seeking a pact with you!"

Everyone, including Volt turned to face the owner of the voice. Kratos was advancing towards the Summon Spirit of Lightning with his sword drawn, and Yuan was not too far behind, his weapon drawn also. Keele decided to start gathering mana for a spell and Genis did the same. As for the others, Raine had raised her staff to chest level, Colette pulled out her chakrams, Lloyd drew his swords, and Sheena pulled out her cards.

Kratos stopped and pointed his sword at Volt. "Volt! I am Kratos! I ask that thou annulst thy pact with Sheena and form a new pact with me!"

Volt regarded Kratos seriously, not worried about the sword that was being pointed at him. _'You're that high summoner that gave up his pact to Mithos.'_

"That is totally irrelevant," Kratos replied, his gaze and sword never moving. "I'm sure you can feel that at this very moment, the very life of the Giant Yggdrasill Tree is being threatened, and if it dies, this very land will go along with it."

_'Yes. That's true, but you do realise the reason I've lost my faith in the first place was because Mithos broke his vow? If you hadn't given up your pact, then perhaps my faith in the summoners would have never been lost!'_

Kratos suddenly lowered his sword and stepped back, shaking at what what Volt had said. He had always thought about that too, but as a high summoner, he had failed to realise the impact a broken vow had on the Summon Spirits. The others were all staring at the retreating seraph, wondering what was wrong. Raine couldn't understand the entire conversation, but she knew whatever Volt had said seemed to have hit a nerve.

Yuan was getting a bit annoyed and angry at this point. "Alright, Volt! I don't know what you said to Kratos, but I don't care! He's getting that pact no matter what, and I will help him get it!" Then the half-elf raised his weapon against the Summon Spirit of Lightning and slashed. Volt retaliated with a blot of lightning which Yuan easily dodged.

"Come on guys, let's get him! We're not going to let Yuan do this alone, are we?" Lloyd yelled as he pointed the Vorpal Sword at Volt. Sheena charged the Summon Spirit of Lightning while both Keele and Genis let the spell which they had been preparing loose on Volt. Colette repeatedly used Dual Ray Thrust against the Summon Spirit, knocking him back.

Before Lloyd joined them however, he turned to look at Kratos. "Dad, I don't know what Volt said to you but, I think it's related Mithos or the past, am I not right?"

Kratos turned to look at Lloyd. Had he somehow figured out what Volt might have said?

"What I'm trying to say is, it's no use dwelling on the past. What's happened cannot be undone, but you still can try to make the future better, am I not right?" With that, Lloyd turned to join the others in the battle against Volt.

Kratos gritted his teeth at those words, watching the battle unfold before him. _"Am I so weak that I have to be told things that I should have realised? Even after living for so long, after having seen so much, am I still such a weakling? Such a weakling that I have to be told or shown what I should have known by Yuan and Lloyd?"_

Lloyd, Colette, Sheena and Yuan had Volt surrounded at four sides. As another barrage of spells came at the Summon Spirit, the four of them charged, assaulting Volt relentlessly, never giving the Summon Spirit a chance to retaliate. Then, another wave of spells came at Volt, adding to the damage.

_"Even Yuan, without knowing what Volt said, stood by me and did his best to help me form my pacts, and yet I...!"_

_"You're not weak, Kratos. You just do not realise the true strength in which you possess. Show Volt what you had showed me during our battle. Show Volt the power which you possess as a high summoner!"_

"Verius?" Kratos whispered to no one in particular. "What are you trying to say?"

_"It is what I said. Show Volt what you have showed me, or I wouldn't have formed a pact with you otherwise."_

It was then Volt finally spread a wave of lightning outwards around him, scattering the four which had been taking the frontlines for quite a while. Then seizing the chance, Volt gathered mana around him and prepared a spell against them.

_'Thunder Storm!'_

Lightning started crashing all around the cavern, as they slowly struck everyone, except Kratos, who was out of the spell's range. Lloyd and Yuan were only struck by it once, but the others weren't as lucky, especially Raine. The half-elf was struck one too many times and her body felt numb from the attack, and it was no longer able to move. At least for now.

"The Professor can't move!" Lloyd, who was, at that moment, the one nearest to her, yelled to the others.

"A healing spell should be able to fix her up!" Yuan yelled back, without turning his eyes away from Volt, and parrying an attack from him.

"But the only other person that can use healing magic is Kratos!" Sheena exclaimed. "And he's still not joining us for battle!"

Lloyd had decided to abandon Raine and went to Yuan's aid when Genis was finally beside her, looking after the older Sage. Keele had fired off another spell to support the charging swordsman. While all these were happening, Yuan took this chance to look at what his best friend was doing. _"Kratos, just what in the name of Martel are you doing? Are you just going to stand there while we fight? With Raine out for now, we need your healing support in order to win!"_

As if reading Yuan's thoughts, Kratos finally made a move. But it wasn't what the half-elf angel had expected. Kratos sheathed his sword back into his scabbard. After doing that, the summoner closed his eyes and clasped his hands together, as if praying to something.

_Lloyd's right. There is no point in dwelling on the past. What's done cannot be undone. The past simply exists for us to learn from, not for us to dwell upon. The present and what is going to happen in the future is what's important right now. And that's what I've set out to do in the first place. To protect the future._

_"What the...! Why is he praying at a time like this?"_ Yuan questioned, but in the end decided to put his faith into whatever Kratos was trying to do, and turned his attention once again back to the battle.

"With my stature as a high summoner, by the oath which I have sworn to the Summon Spirits..." Kratos whispered softly as he started gathering mana towards him. "...and by the bond which we have made through our pacts, I lend you my heart's strength, to release thy true power!"

Yuan sensed the mana flow as he fought. The half-elf, being all too familiar with that flow pattern, realised that Kratos was going to summon. And yet, he also noticed something different with the flow. The summoner was gathering more mana than usual as he prepared to summon. _"Kratos is gathering more mana than usual! He never uses this much mana to summon, unless...!"_ But before Yuan could complete his musings, Kratos' voice came floating through the battlefield around them.

"I call upon the Maiden of the Mist! I summon thee, Undine!" Kratos called as he stretched his left hand outwards. His Spirit Sphere glowed silently as the summoning crest appeared beneath his feet. But it wasn't in it's normal blue color. Right now, it was shining in the color of gold.

"Heal us with thy healing waters..." The summoner continued as Undine appeared in the middle of the battlefield and raised her right arm into the air, calling forth a huge blue colored healing circle which surrounded every single one of them except Volt. They were all filled with powerful healing mana and slowly recovered from their wounds. Even Raine had started to stir.

"...and strike with thy merciless waves! Aquaris Wave!" Kratos called as he completed the summon. Undine then brought her right arm down in front of her and swept it from her left to right. A wave of water appeared in-front of Volt as the water maiden did that. Undine then swung her left arm upwards commanding the water right into Volt. Being hit directly by the attack, the Summon Spirit of Lightning was completely overwhelmed and got washed away in the direction the water went, and crashed into the cave walls.

As for the others, they were fully healed from their wounds from their battle with Volt. Even Raine had recovered, opened her eyes slowly and got up. Lloyd, Colette, Sheena and Keele remained vigilant against Volt while Yuan turned to stare at his best friend. Kratos brought his left hand down as Undine disappeared from the battlefield in a swirl of blue. The summoning crest dissipated from view as the angel turned to look at the others. The summoner slowly stepped forward, finally joining the others for battle. And yet, Kratos didn't unsheathe his sword. He mearly stopped beside Yuan and gave the half-elf a small smile.

Volt slowly got up and floated once again in mid air. Everyone, except Kratos, stood at ready to attack at anytime. The Summon Spirit of Lightning regarded the summoner, staring straight at him, as if trying to read Kratos' thoughts.

_'Is that what you truly wish?'_

Kratos looked away for a few seconds, pondered on something, and turned back to look Volt. "If that high summon didn't make it clear enough, then I'd have no choice but to continue this fight until you yield, Volt."

Yuan turned and looked at Kratos questioningly. "That was a high summon?"

Kratos simply nodded in reply, eyes not leaving Volt.

"No wonder you used more mana that usual..." Yuan continued, tapping his finger on his chin.

"Wow, high summon? That was simply amazing, Dad!" Lloyd piped up out of a sudden. Everyone else just nodded in agreement. Kratos decided not to comment.

_'You still possess that unwavering determination and love, just like that time, about 4000 years ago.'_

"Then, what is your decision?" Kratos asked.

_'I think I can actually start to believe once again, or at least, have faith in that heart of yours. You may have changed, but your heart remains the same. No, that's not right. You may have indeed become much stronger than before. Perhaps there is hope afterall.'_

"Wait a minute, Volt! Do you know something about what's happening to the Yggdrasill Tree?" Kratos questioned, his gaze upon the Summon Spirit never faltering.

Volt returned that gaze back at the summoner, as if thinking of what to say. _'You will find out in due time. Now, make your vow.'_

"So, in the end, you're not going to tell me anything," Kratos murmured as he looked away for a few seconds, and turned back to face Volt once again. "I vow to protect this world for as long as I live, in order to ensure that tomorrow will always exist."

_'Vow accepted.'_ Volt replied as he bobbed up and down, as if nodding. _'I hereby grant you my power, High Summoner Kratos.'_ And with that, Summon Spirit disappeared in a swirl of purple light, and in its place, a orange-brown colored gem slowly floated down into Kratos' right hand. It was a sardonyx, the proof of the pact with the Summon Spirit of Lightning.

Kratos stared silently at the sardonyx in his hand. _"Volt... Why are you being just like Sekundes? Not telling me anything?"_

"Dad?" Lloyd asked, staring at the gloomy looking face of his biological father. "Why are you looking so sad? You got your pact with Volt, and everything worked out in the end!"

"If anything, that was a very good vow," Sheena commented, nodding. "A vow that's a lot better than mine..."

Kratos said nothing as he closed his right hand on the sardonyx he had just received from Volt. Yuan stopped beside the summoner and placed a comforting hand on the other angel's shoulder.

"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll be able to find out whatever that's causing the Mana Tree's slow death, stop it and save Symphonia," Yuan whispered softly, just loud enough for Kratos to hear. "And I promise that I will be with you until the very end...no matter what."

"Yuan...thank you..." Kratos muttered softly.

"Hey, that's what best friends are for, right?" Yuan teased playfully, wrapping an arm around Kratos' back. "They always stick with each other, no matter what."

"Yeah, you're right," Kratos replied, not making any attempt to slip out of Yuan's light grip. "Best friends forever?"

"Yep, forever, for as long as we live, even if it means for eternity."

"I guess so," Kratos replied as Yuan finally let go of the summoner. Keele had noticed this gesture between the two seraphim and immediately let his thoughts wander. The elven mage was envious of the both of them. How he wished that he would be able to experience a friendship as strong as this one day.

The others, however, weren't paying attention to the three of them. They were busy trying to keep Raine from going 'Ruin Mode' and start randomly poking and touching any possible relic in sight. But it looks like it wasn't possible. Raine somehow had managed to chance upon some writings on the cave walls, and something which looked like a button above the said writings. But before the half-elf teacher even attempted to read it, she pressed the button. And the outcome wasn't something pleasant.

Shrieks echoed the cavern as Kratos and Yuan decided what to do and where to go next. Now that Kratos has a pact with Volt, they were able to use the Rheairds freely, without it running out of power. But the shrieks had caught the two seraphim's attention. The scene that had presented itself before them was somewhat amusing. Yuan was trying very hard not to laugh, but Keele had already doubled down in laughter. Kratos was simply just standing there and rolling his eyes.

The others were being suspended in mid air by a giant squid like creature, and swung about like a piece of rope. They were all screaming stuff that didn't make any sense as their voices were being muffled while being swung about.

"What in the blazes...! One of you pressed the button on the wall, didn't you?" Kratos asked, almost in a scolding tone as he slapped his right hand on his forehead.

"Da---mmph! Prof---!" Lloyd barely managed to mouth out admist all the dizziness he's feeling. "Get---! Do---n!"

"What the heck is that?" Yuan questioned as he looked on, after he had managed to prevent himself from laughing. Deciding that Keele's laughter was getting annoying, the seraph went up to the elf and smacked him on the head, which earned Yuan an "ouch" from the elven archer, and he finally stopped laughing, deciding that it just wasn't funny anymore.

"That is something that the summoners of the Summoner Clan used to practice magic on..." Kratos muttered, shaking his head as he figured out that Lloyd had just told him who was responsible for pressing the button. "...since you can't fight it when you're too close to it. It doesn't move though, thus it made the perfect practice dummy to practice magic on. Get too close to it, the results...is as you can see."

"Practice dummy?" Yuan asked, slightly bewildered. "I mean, throwing so many spells at it is bound to kill it somehow, right?"

"It seems that it has the ability to be reborn, just like a Unicorn," Kratos replied, crossing his arms over his chest. "It's harmless, unless you get close to it of course..."

"Umm...shouldn't we get them down now?" Keele asked, turning his head, glancing at both angels.

"I guess we should..." Kratos replied as he uncrossed his arms and started gathering mana in both of his hands. "Yuan, use Indignation. We're going to knock it out with just two shots."

"Umm...right," Yuan muttered as he too, started gathering mana in his hands. "Holy lightning, I call upon thee from the heavens to unleash thy fury of thunder! Indignation!"

A magic circle appeared beneath the giant squid like creature after Yuan called out the name of the spell he had cast. Blue lights circled the creature as the spell slowly took effect. Just then, a huge bolt of lightning came from the point where the lights converged above the giant squid and struck it, weakening it to a point where it completely stopped swinging whoever it had in its grip. However, it wasn't knocked out yet. It still had them in its grip, dangling from its tentacles.

"Amazing! What an interesting creature!" Raine cooed, her eyes lit up with awe and curiosity.

"Raine! You still have time to think of such things?" Genis yelled out, frustrated and embarrassed at the same time.

"That's the professor for you..." Sheena muttered.

Just then, Kratos' voice echoed throughout the cave. "I call upon the Hammer of Godly Lightning! I summon thee, Volt!" The summoner called as he completed his summon. The blue colored summoning crest appeared beneath his feet as Volt appeared. The Summon Spirit of Lightning had summoned several bolts of lightning around him. Then he commanded the lightning bolts away from him, and towards the giant squid like creature. Every single bolt hit it right on its face. With one final screech, it fell down defeated, releasing everyone from its hold. With that, the Summon Spirit disappeared from battle.

Raine recovered surprisingly fast though. Almost in an instant, the half-elf was up and about again, trying to find something else to poke at. Lloyd, Genis and Sheena ran after her, trying to stop the older Sage from touching anything else. But the half-elf scholar was too fast for them.

Just in that instant, Kratos had summoned forth his blue angel wings. Quickly summoning his angelic mana, he teleported right in-front of Raine and grabbed her, lifting the half-elf a fair distance off the ground, with her yelling and flailing in the air as she realised what had just happened.

"Put me down!"

"And risk you bringing down the last place in Polaris that's still intact after all these years? I don't think so," Kratos replied threateningly, with a slight tint of sadness in his voice. "This place holds the last pieces and memories of the summoners and high summoners of the Summoner Clan! It will be left untouched so that at least the memories of them can live on!"

"I..." Raine started as she stopped flailing in Kratos' strong grip. "I'm sorry... I didn't stop to consider... I wasn't thinking..."

"What's wrong with Kratos?" Colette asked curiously, glancing around nervously at the rest of them.

"He's snapped," Yuan muttered, closing his eyes and swept his hair out of his eye. "In case anyone of you had forgotten, we're currently at the place where he was born, grew up, and learned how to be a high summoner. Apparently, this is the only place left intact in this town after what had happened more than 4000 years ago. You could imagine how important this place is to him. Afterall, this is all that is left of his memories of his younger days, and the legacy of the Summoner Clan."

Lloyd turned to stare at his father after absorbing what Yuan had said. _"Dad..."_

"Come on, let's get out of here," Kratos said as he flew towards the entrance, with Raine still in his grip. The angel didn't want to risk the half-elf running amok the moment he set her down and thus had decided to carry her all the way out. No words were being exchanged amongst themselves as they all made their way out of the cave. None of them wanted to risk upsetting Kratos more than he already was.

_I promise to be with you every step of the way, you who had been my best friend and stood by me no matter what happened. I guess...it's time for me to return that favour, especially since I had nearly jeopardised your plans to entrust the Eternal Sword to him, being unable to figure out what you had been planning at that time. And I also promise to aid you in whatever way I can, so that you will always be able to uphold your vow with the Summon Spirits, so that it can last for eternity._

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Whew! Finally done with Chapter 4! Sorry it took so long! X( No, it wasn't writer's block that had stopped me, but rather, I've started playing Ragnarok Online about six months ago and boy am I having fun with it, neglecting to write this fic. I've even neglected my manga editing... 

How did I even write this chapter? I ended up playing RO and typing Chapter 4 at the same time while my character regenerated (Which was very boring...), otherwise I doubt that Chapter 4 would even be finished at this moment...

Okay, after reading my reviews, there was one particular review that stood out...and I'm gonna reconfirm this. THIS IS NOT A KRATOS x YUAN FIC! I DO NOT IN ANYWAY SUPPORT YAOI OR YURI OR HENTAI OR INCEST! This is strictly a Kratos and Yuan best friends relationship kind of thing!

Okay, with that out of the way, I'd like to say something to you ToS fans out there...The ToS Manga that is based on the game is finally out! Yay! And I'll be taking it upon my hands to scan and edit it, with my friend translating it, and releasing it under my manga group's name, Eternal. Go to my profile for the URL to my manga group! You can also go to Manga Jouhou, Baka Updates Manga and Daily Manga for the scoop on when the manga is released for the public to download (Links can be found in my profile).

Also, I've thought about the plot some more and decided that I'm gonna keep Zelos alive afterall. Why? I just can't stand killing people off. The fic still follows the Kratos Path though, only without Zelos dead. How he's alive will be explained when the time comes. So Zelos fans, I guess you can rejoice or something...and yes...Seles will be in this fic too, from how I've planned things.

One important thing starting from this chapter, you'll be seeing Kratos High Summon more often from now on, most probably one High Summon per chapter or two, so stay tuned! On a side note...this chapter is even longer than Chapter 3... Till then, cya! I'll be working on Chapter 5 as I play RO, so it's gonna take a while once again...


	5. The Ties that Bind

**Angels of Cruxis**

Written by Rena Chan 

Finished on 20/02/2006

* * *

**Chapter 5 - The Ties that Bind**

It was a clear afternoon. Hardly any clouds were seen in the sky as the sunlight from the afternoon sun shined down on eight people walking through the fields of Symphonia, where the territory belonged to the Kingdom of Tethe'alla. An auburn-haired man in a purple outfit was walking alongside a blue-haired man who had his hair tied in a low ponytail and wore a fringe almost reaching his chin over his right cheek.

Towards their right and walking a bit a ways in front of them were two young adults, one with with auburn-colored hair similar to the older auburn-haired man but with his hair color a bit closer to that of brown. He was chatting with a blonde-haired girl who's hair almost reached her waist, occasionally laughing at something. Walking beside them was an abnormally large dog-like creature, which had huge ears. His fur was mostly white, but there were patches of green in them.

Some distance behind them were another pair of people, one with short silverish-colored hair where there were two large locks of them that were longer than the rest, hanging at the sides of his face, stopping at just above his stomach. He was talking to someone with short blue hair, and had long pointed ears. The blue-haired one was carrying a bow over his back and a quiver of arrows on his waist.

Walking right behind everyone else were the last two people, both females, walking in silence. One of them had black hair and had the back clipped up high so that none of them fell over her shoulders. She wore a set of purple-colored ninja type outfit with a long pink-colored cloth tied around her waist, secured by a large ribbon type knot at the back. The other female had the same shade of silverish hair as the younger one, but they were shorter, just a bit over her shoulders, curving outwards at the back in both directions. Her fringe itself was also curved, but only towards the left instead of both directions.

Raine Sage was occasionally casting nervous glances at the older auburn-haired man that was quite a ways in front of her. Earlier that day, she had upset the angel back at the Sanctuary of the Summoners at Polaris, when she had went ruin crazy upon seeing the place. She couldn't help it, it was her nature, but at the same time, she should have been more considerate. There was absolutely no reason for her to go nuts over ruins in the first place. Somehow, she had to kick the habit, or risk the possibility of upsetting someone else with her craze in the future. But for now, she was going to keep a fair distance away from Kratos, even though she knew the summoner wouldn't bear any grudges for something that minor.

Both Kratos and Yuan were in a deep discussion about something. The half-elf was walking with his computer in his hands, typing and talking to the summoner as they moved.

"How come you're able make the radar on the PortNav work correctly and yet not this one?"

"That's because the PortNav uses a radar that scans a much smaller area compared to this one," Yuan replied. "A small area radar has lesser bugs and programming involved to make it work properly. Whereas a really large scale one, like this one that I'm working on, needs a lot more work in order to make it function correctly."

"Then..." Kratos said thoughtfully, tapping his finger on his chin. "...why don't you make it scan an area of Symphonia instead of the entire land at once? Like for instance, you can scan the Iselia region, then make it scan the Meltokio region, and so on."

Yuan stopped typing for a bit and turned to look at Kratos while the both of them were still walking. "You know, that's a great idea! Why didn't I think of that?"

Kratos continued staring at the half-elf as if he was an alien from outer space. The angel wanted to say something, but couldn't quite think of the word he wanted to use at that point in time.

"You're a genius!" Yuan added as an afterthought.

Kratos wanted to say something in reply to that, but before the summoner could get a word out of his mouth, Yuan's hand came slapping on his back real hard, which caused the seraph to stagger forward, making him lose balance. The human quickly hopped on one foot in order to regain his balance. It was a quick recovery on Kratos' part, and the moment the seraph had regained his footing, he stopped and turned to glare at Yuan.

Yuan, in turn, returned the glare with a puzzled look on his face. Only after a few seconds of staring did the half-elf realise what he had just done. He had forgotten his own strength yet again and had given Kratos a real hard slap on his back. Yep, it wasn't the first time Yuan had did that.

"Uh oh," Yuan muttered as he slammed his computer shut and started making a run for it.

"Yuan Crestfield!" Kratos screamed, his cries piercing the skies of the sunny afternoon. "I'm going to get you for this!" The summoner then promptly whistled for Noishe as he started running after Yuan. The arshis obeyed immediately, tearing itself away from Lloyd and Colette, yelping happily, catching up to the seraph in just a few seconds. Kratos then hopped onto the protozoan and yelled for his long time companion to chase after the blue-haired half-elf.

The others, stopping at where Lloyd and Colette were, just stared after the two angels with looks of confusion on their faces, wondering what had just transpired between them.

"Shouldn't we go after them?" Keele asked, looking at every single one of them and seeking their decision.

"Nah," Lloyd replied after a few seconds of thought. "Dad can always send Noishe back to come and fetch us."

"Besides, those two are strong," Sheena added, shrugging. "I doubt that they would come across anything they can't handle."

Everyone else nodded in agreement. They simply went in the direction where the two seraphim were last seen heading.

OoOoOoO

"Not fair," Yuan complained. "You always use Noishe against me."

"You shouldn't have slapped me so hard on the back," Kratos snickered.

"I am so not enjoying myself having an arshis lying down on top of me," Yuan mumbled in reply.

Noishe barked in reply, as if trying to mock the half-elf. The protozoan had jumped on Yuan as soon as he caught up to the blue-haired angel, and had him pinned under his weight. Yuan just continued laying down with Noishe on top of him, not making any moves to get the arshis off him, and Kratos simply stared down at the half-elf. Noishe was swinging his tail happily, obviously in a good mood.

"When was the last time something like this happened?" Kratos asked suddenly, his gaze not moving, still staring at his best friend with the kind eyes the summoner hardly showed.

"A really long time ago..." Yuan murmured in reply, as he tried to recall. He wasn't able to though. The last time something like this happened, was probably more than 3000 years ago, perhaps dating back to the early days where the first few regeneration journeys had happened after the world was split into two, or even during their travels at the time of the Kharlan War.

"A really long time...huh?" Kratos murmured as he silently commanded Noishe to get off Yuan. But the one thing that the swordsman definitely remembered was that Noishe hadn't evolved into an arshis yet and was still in his aeros form. But even then, the protozoan himself was an oversized bird, very similar in size as his arshis form, and that in itself already was quite a hefty amount of weight to keep people pinned to the ground, despite the fact that Noishe's aeros form could fly, and the body weight of a flying creature was supposed to be lighter than a ground dwelling one.

The half-elf sat up as soon as the arshis was off him, and turned to stare at the sky. But before any of their reminiscing could continue further, both seraphim heard a scream pierce through the afternoon skies.

"What was that?" Yuan questioned as he turned to look at Kratos.

The summoner didn't bother replying to the half-elf. He simply held out his left hand, which Yuan took hold of quickly after leaping up from his sitting position. Kratos then summoned his angelic strength and hauled the half-elf onto Noishe's back behind him, and commanded the protozoan to run towards the direction of the scream.

OoOoOoO

"Teez, Carlos, are you two alright?"

"Big Sister Selena! We're scared!"

"Don't worry, Dias and I will protect the two of you," Selena replied, hugging the two children close to her. Selena was a half-elf and had long red hair which flowed down to just above her waist, with her semi-pointed ears poking out of them. She wore a long, plain, short-sleeved brown dress and a pair of simple red shoes. On her neck hanged a necklace that was very important to her.

Just as Selena finished her sentence, someone came flying past her as he took a hit from whatever he was fighting. He managed to scrape one of his short swords onto the ground and came skidding to a halt. Just like Selena, he too was a half-elf. He had blue hair that went just below his shoulders which was tied in a short, low ponytail. His fringe fell just above his eyes at the front and up till his chin at the sides, covering his ears. He wore a yellow scarf over his neck with it tied at the right side, the two ends each falling to the front and the back over a light blue tunic. On his hands bore a pair of light brown gloves. To complete his outfit, he wore a pair of black pants with brown boots. On his waist was a piece of green cloth similar to a scarf tied around his waist, the end of it hanging at his left, reaching the length of his knee, with two brown belts tied loosely in a x-shaped manner below his waist, with two scabbards at the belts at his back which he keeps his twin short swords when not in use. Then at his right thigh strapped another small brown pouch which he keeps his throwing daggers in.

"Dias!" Selena cried as the other half-elf stood up and wiped away the blood that was on his mouth. Dias was already injured at several places on his arms and legs, and yet he still stood up and tried to protect the female half-elf and the two children from a monster the twin blade was currently fighting despite his injuries.

"Don't worry about me," Dias replied, gritting his teeth. _"Damn, if only I can get close to it! My throwing daggers are useless if they are going to be deflected that easily!"_

"Big Sister Selena! Are we going to be alright?" Teez asked. Teez was a ten year old half-elf with short light green hair. He wore a green shirt with black shorts and a pair of blue boots.

"I'm scared!" Carlos added. Carlos was a ten year old human with short blonde hair. He wore a white shirt with blue pants and a pair of brown boots.

"Don't worry, I'm sure Dias can beat that monster," Selena assured the two children. The truth was she wanted to at least support her companion with her magic, but unlike Dias, she did not have an exsphere and would probably be of more harm than good to the half-elf twin blade as she couldn't move as quickly as Dias could. So she ended up staying with the two children. At times like these, Selena wished she was able to use healing magic. If she was at least able to do that, she would be able to at least heal Dias' injuries without putting herself or anyone else in harm's way.

Dias quickly stood up and wiped the blood that was at the side of his mouth with the back of his right hand. Readying his twin swords, the half-elf charged the monster he was fighting once again. It was at least triple the height of his own. The monster itself was a plant type creature. It looked like a leafless tree with legs that was covered with vines it could extend at will. Smiling evilly, it lashed out at the charging half-elf.

Dias dodged the first vine that came at him. But due to his injuries, the half-elf wasn't able to move as fast as he would normally be able to. Thus, he was unable to dodge the subsequent vines that came at him and got smashed by them. After flying backwards for quite a distance, the twin blade landed on the ground. Subsequently, Dias tried to get back up again, which he did. But the Dryad had taken that opportunity to lash out at the people he was trying to protect and was rewarded with a scream in the air.

When Dias took battle stance again, he saw what had just happened. The Dryad was having Selena, Teez and Carlos hanging by the clutches of its vines. Gritting his teeth, Dias tried to charge again, but the monster swung out at him with its remaining vines, smacking the half-elf back. Dias knelt back down from that attack, panting. The half-elf was already at his limit. Anymore, he might just lose his life.

"Dias!" Selena squeaked. "Get out of here! Find help!"

"No..." Dias started, trying to stand up once again. "I won't...leave you guys behind..."

The Dryad struck out with all its vines at the twin blade once again. Dias raised both of his short swords in defense to prepare for impact, but before it came, someone had dashed in-between him and the Dryad, raised his sword and swung it with a huge forward arc, with the tips of the blade lined with red-colored mana.

"Flame Circle!"

A red-colored crest appeared beneath the newcomer's feet and thereafter, he was surrounded by fire. The vines of the Dryad struck the flames surrounding the swordsman and the monster reeled back in pain after that. As it was a plant-type monster, it was susceptible to fire attacks and magic. Just as the flames of the swordsman's attack died down, Dias realised what race the swordsman was from his mana signature.

_"A human?"_

Readying himself in battle stance, the swordsman raised his sword at chest level. "Yuan! Now!" He shouted.

From their right, another figure appeared from among the shadows. Dias noticed that he was carrying a huge polearm type weapon. Skillfully raising it, the other newcomer, which Dias realised was of the same blood as him, a half-elf, swung it in a wide arc twice, creating blades of air out of his swings.

"Dual Air Slash!"

Huge blades made out of wind went straight for the vines of the Dryad. Unleashing its fury, the attack completely sliced the vines of the monster off, releasing the captives it was holding. Almost in an instant, before its vines could regenerate, Kratos was already in-between the Dryad's hostages and the Dryad itself. Holding his sword back, the swordsman gave a quick thrust forward.

"Super Sonic Thrust!"

Kratos' sword stabbed the Dryad at supersonic speed so hard that the Dryad got smashed backwards, away from the summoner and the people it held hostage. Just then, both Yuan and Noishe came up to the summoner. Turning to his protozoan, he whispered a command to Noishe.

"Noishe, bring them to safety!"

Nodding, the arshis trotted up to Selena, Teez and Carlos. Noishe then bowed at Selena and shoved her on his back. He did the same with Teez and Carlos. The three of them were a bit surprised at this, they had never seen a dog that big and smart. Satisfied that they were all secure, Noishe ran towards the direction where Dias stood. The half-elf twin blade had almost collapsed, and was more than happy at the intrusion they were getting from the unlikely combination of a human and a half-elf.

Noishe prodded up to the half-elf and promptly set himself down, letting his passengers slide down. Almost immediately, Teez and Carlos started crawling all over the protozoan, muttering how soft and cute he was. Noishe was practically purring the whole time. But both Dias and Selena chose to ignore what the two children were doing and turned their attention to their rescuers.

By this time, the vines of the Dryad had grown back. Turning its attention its two new targets, it swung all its vines out at the two angels. Dashing to both sides, Kratos and Yuan started dodging the vines and attempted to charge the Dryad from the side. But the monster persisted and shifted its vines after them. Yuan, raising his free hand, summoned three fireballs at the Dryad as he ran. The half-elf's spell smashed into the face of the Dryad and it reeled back from the pain, its vines flailing out of its intended path.

This gave Kratos the chance to move in. The swordsman skidded to a halt using his left hand and made a quick turn towards the Dryad. Then calling upon his angelic strength, the angel thrust himself towards the Dryad, sword pointed at the monster. Just before Kratos' sword hit the Dryad however, an Endow Blaze spell from Yuan came aiming at him, enchanting the Last Fencer with fire mana. Only then the angel's sword impacted the Dryad. The monster once again reeled back from the pain of its natural elemental weakness. Not letting up, Kratos called forth an energy from his sword, combined it with the fire mana in the Last Fencer, and slammed it onto the ground.

"Flame Blade!"

A powerful wave of fire swept the Dryad, not giving it a chance to attack. The reason being, Kratos had felt a shift in the flow of fire mana, and it came from Yuan. Knowing what the half-elf was planning, the swordsman was not letting up his attacks until Yuan finished his spell. And it was working. Kratos was relentlessly attacking the Dryad by simply swinging his sword without letting up. The monster didn't even get a chance to retaliate. Any attempts to swing its vines at the swordsman only got nullified by both Kratos' Flame Circle and Flame Blade techniques.

"Raging flames, reduce everything to ashes! Explosion!" Yuan declared just as his spell was ready. A stream of fire fell from the sky, hitting the Dryad right on target and causing an explosion. Just as the blast cleared, Kratos, who was still in front of the monster, performed an attack which sent the human angel spinning into the air, slashing the Dryad as his sword touched it.

"Hell Pyre!" Kratos yelled at the top of his jump, tossing a huge fireball into the Dryad as he swung the Last Fencer. After the attack, the swordsman landed with his free hand on the ground in a crouching position. But both angels weren't done with their attack yet. Just as Kratos stood back up, Yuan sent a wave of mana to the sword he was holding. Just as he received the mana, Kratos swung his sword in a downward motion, slamming the ground.

"Roar! Power of the Flames! Burn everything down to nothing! Pyre Explosion!" Both seraphim yelled at the same time just as Kratos' swing caused an explosion. Fireballs started raining onto the Dryad, every single one of them striking the monster. After the attack cleared, the Dryad gave one final roar of pain and fell to the ground defeated, its mana dissipating back to the land.

"That was too easy," Yuan muttered as he came up beside Kratos and used magic to store his weapon away at the same time.

"That's because we always defeat them with Pyre Explosion," Kratos replied, shaking his head and sheathing his sword.

"The term is _cook_, Kratos, _cook_."

"I don't use that word. Only you do," Kratos pointed out, rolling his eyes.

"I use it because during the first Dryad we defeated together---"

"I know that," Kratos replied hastily as he slapped a hand on Yuan's mouth. "It is a symbol of that time when you made a _very_ important decision at a certain point in your life." Then the swordsman removed his hand and started walking towards the group of people gathered near Noishe.

"Kratos!" Yuan yelled, flustered. Muttering something in elven, the half-elf followed the swordsman to where he was going.

"Umm...thank you for helping us!" Selena said and bowed at the same time, thanking the duo as they approached. Noishe leapt up and yelped happily, and was beside the purple-clad swordsman instantly. The two children was instantly disappointed when Noishe decided to move.

Kratos absent-mindedly patted the protozoan and he purred silently, his tail wagging in happiness. Yuan stepped forward and surveyed the people in front of them.

"Two adult half-elves, one half-elf child and one human child...interesting. Do you all live somewhere nearby?"

"We live in a village nearby," Selena replied. "I'm Selena Wezz and this is my friend, Dias Silverlance. The two children are Teez and Carlos," Selena continued as she introduced all four of them.

Yuan frowned at the mention of Dias' last name. Kratos, sensing his friend's thoughts, placed a hand on the half-elf's shoulder. The angel then turned to look at the swordsman and saw him shaking his head.

_"But Kratos!"_ Yuan returned the shake to his best friend in the form of speech, speaking in angelic. _"He could be his brother!"_

_"We don't know for sure,"_ Kratos replied, also speaking in angelic. _"We'll have to see what Keele says."_

"Umm...excuse me...sirs? What are you talking about?" Selena asked innocently.

"Oh, sorry about that," Yuan replied, turning back to face Selena. "I think we should introduce ourselves. I'm Yuan Crestfield and he's my friend, Kratos Aurion, the huge dog there is Noishe, and he belongs to Kratos."

"Bark!" Noishe barked happily in reply, wagging his tail.

"He says 'Hi'..." Kratos muttered. Almost immediately, Noishe nipped the swordsman's hand and shook it up and down with glee.

Kratos turned to glare at his long time pet and companion. "Noishe, please settle down..." Noishe immediately obeyed and sat down on the ground.

"Wow! Noishe is so smart!" Teez and Carlos yelled at the same time. Noishe returned the compliment with a purr.

"Thanks for saving us..." Dias started as he tried to stand up, despite his injuries. "Selena, we better get back before Carlos' parents sees him with us."

"Yes," Selena nodded, holding onto Teez and Carlos' hands. "Let's go."

However, before Dias started leading them back to where they lived, the half-elven swordsman turned to look at the duo. The way they had handled the Dryad, it was simply perfect. Too perfect. Their teamwork and their ability to predict the others' moves. They didn't even signal to each other during that fight. They just fought. Even that unison attack they had performed, a very powerful one too, he noticed. He had never seen such a strong unison attack before. It was almost like they were very close friends, best friends to be exact. Only a bond as strong as that could produce such a well coordinated and powerful unison attack. But that couldn't be possible...could it? They _were_ human and half-elf afterall. Even if a human didn't discriminate against a half-elf, but being such good friends with one? Impossible. But, Teez and Carlos were pretty close to each other. But you can't compare children with adults. They were at the stage where innocence and ignorance were a bliss. Who knows what it would be like when they're adults? Would they still be friends, or would they hate each other's guts?

"Dias?" Selena said. That immediately snapped the half-elf out of his thoughts. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Dias replied, shaking his thoughts out of his head. "Let's go." But the twin blade had only taken a few steps before he buckled under the pain of his injuries.

"Dias!" Selena cried and was beside him in an instant. "Your injuries!"

"Those are pretty serious injuries," Kratos murmured.

Both Dias and Selena looked up in shock. The human was beside them in just a blink of an eye. They didn't even notice him move! Yuan just giggled at their bewildered faces, basking himself in amusement. The half-elf angel knew Kratos moved very quickly and swiftly whenever there was someone injured within his range of sight, especially when not in battle. The two half-elves stared at him wondering what he found so amusing.

"This is hardly a good place to administer first aid," Kratos replied, standing up. "Please allow us to escort you back to where you live, and I'll tend to these injuries."

"But these injuries..." Selena protested. "Only a doctor or someone with healing magic would be able to take care them! Basic first aid just won't work!"

"Selena," Yuan said as he walked up beside Kratos together with Noishe close behind. "Kratos is easily one of the best healers around, and he's healed injuries that are much worse than these. It should be a piece of cake for him."

"How are you able to say that with so much confidence?" Selena retorted, almost choking on her words. "He's a human and you're a half-elf...humans can't manipulate mana!"

"Selena..." Dias said, attempting to stand up once again. "It's alright. Even basic first aid is better than nothing. You think those human doctors back at Serant would come and look at my injuries?"

Selena fell silent at those words. Yuan, discovering the meaning of those words, flinched slightly at them. Kratos had turned knowingly to the other angel, also understanding the meaning behind those words, and noticed that Yuan's fists were clenched. Kratos was on the alert almost instantly.

"Carlos! Where are you, Carlos!"

The human child immediately perked up at the voice calling out his name. "Uh no! It's my dad! We have to---"

"Carlos! Why are you with those filthy half-elves again! How many times did your mother and I tell not to go near them? Come over here now!"

Carlos obeyed and silently walked over to where his father was. Teez was looking on sadly. He knew that this may really be the last time he'll ever see Carlos again. He couldn't take it not being able to at least say good bye to him and ran up to the human child, waving his hand in the sky. Carlos stopped and waved back to half-elf child.

"Carlos! Why are you saying good bye to that half-elf!" Carlos' father yelled, and came in-between both children. He immediately grabbed hold of Carlos, pulling his child behind him, and knocked Teez to the ground.

"Teez!" Selena cried and was beside the child almost in an instant. "Who do you think you are? You have no right to hit the child! He didn't do anything wrong!"

"I'm just trying to protect my own child from you filthy half-elves!" Carlos' father yelled in anger. He raised his hand and got ready hit the female half-elf in front of him. "What's wrong with trying to protect my own child?"

Selena immediately wrapped her arms protectively around Teez and prepared for the impact. Dias wanted to rush to her aid, but due to his injuries, the twin blade was unable to do that. But there wasn't a need for him to rush to her aid. Before the human adult's hand could even move, Yuan had in an instant, much similar to what Kratos had done before, stepped in front of Selena and grabbed the human's wrist.

"Keep your hands off them, human," Yuan hissed dangerously, his eyes glaring dangerously at Carlos' father.

"What is this?" The human adult started. "From your looks and the way you talk, you must be a half-elf also. But I've never seen you around before...but it doesn't matter..." Then, almost without warning, Carlos' father used his other hand and tried to hit Yuan, but the half-elf angel was much quicker than that. Yuan caught the human's other hand with his free hand, and pushed the human away from him. Then raising his right hand, the half-elf started gathering lightning mana, his favourite element, and prepared to fire a spell at the human.

"Yuan!" Kratos' voice rang out loudly across the field, interrupting the half-elf angel, effectively snapping Yuan out of what he was about to do. The swordsman then moved quickly to where Yuan stood, with Noishe, who was carrying Dias on his back right now, following closely behind. The arshis was no longer in the happy mood he was in just now. The expression on his dog-like face was sour, full of disgust for the human adult that was there.

"Yuan, this person is not worth wasting your energy on," Kratos said, almost in a whisper to his half-elf buddy. The seraph held the hand which Yuan had used to gather mana, effectively cancelling the other seraph's spell.

"D-Don't e-expect me to say th-thank you for saving me, half-elf!" Carlos' father stammered at Kratos.

"I'm sorry, but I'm a human, _not_ a half-elf," Kratos said, glaring dangerously at the human adult. "A human who's disgusted at your pitiful and pointless hatred against half-elves. Now, get out of my sight before I decide to let my half-elf friend incinerate you," Kratos continued calmly.

"Ha-Half-elf sympathizer!" With that, Carlos' father stood up quickly, took his child's hand, and hurried off. Carlos managed a final wave of good bye to Teez before he let his father drag him away.

"Kr-Kratos..." Yuan mumbled, his voice cracking. "I..."

"Shush, Yuan," Kratos replied, letting go of the half-elf's hand and drawing him into an embrace. "Don't say anything..."

Yuan just let his thoughts wander to the past as he let Kratos hug him in comfort. The human angel had always done that whenever they came across humans that bore discrimination against half-elves, treating them like dirt. Yuan always snapped whenever this happened, and Kratos was always the only one that could calm him down. He had always reacted like this, especially so after Martel's death at the hands of those kind of humans. But the human that killed Martel was the worst one. He had tried to control the mana of the Giant Tree, so that he could eliminate all half-elves. Of course, in the end, they managed to kill that human, but at the cost of the life of their dear, kind and innocent Martel, the person that couldn't hate anything, no matter how evil. _His beloved Martel..._

"It's okay..." Yuan choked. "I'm fine now, so you can stop comforting me..."

Kratos let go of Yuan and sighed. _"The scars of the past that never healed. Even if you wanted to forget, you couldn't. You were only able to remember them instead. It's painful, and yet it's a part of you, that which can only make you weaker or stronger, however you decide to handle it. The both of us are the same, is it not why we've always supported each other?"_ Kratos muttered perfectly in elven.

Yuan nodded silently. Both Dias and Selena were dumbstruck with Kratos' perfect use of elven. Not only that, he had gotten Carlos' father to retreat without further incident. Dias bit his lower lip. Could it really be possible that a strong friendship existed between the both of them?

"You can speak elven?" Selena asked in awe.

"Yes. Yuan taught me," Kratos replied, stroking Noishe at the same time, indicating that it was over. At least for now. The protozoan gave a low whine, perked his ears up a little, and wasn't in such a sour mood anymore. "We should get going back to your living quarters. Your friend needs his wounds looked at."

Selena nodded, took Teez's hand and started leading the unlikely human and half-elf combination, together with their dog companion, towards the village where she lived. Dias was silent, contemplating about Kratos and Yuan's bond of friendship with each other, with Noishe carrying him. Kratos was walking beside his ever faithful pet, making sure that the injured half-elf did not fall off the arshis. Yuan was walking in silence behind Kratos, who had been his best friend for more than 4000 years, and was glad that he knew someone like the summoner, who was so much better than all the other humans he knew.

OoOoOoO

They finally arrived at where Dias and Selena lived. Both seraphim glanced around the simple, yet huge house, which was located at the edge of a village called Serant. The fire place laid at the middle of the wall at the far edge of the main room, and there were several other doors leading to other rooms within the house and several windows that were left open. At the center of the main room, there were several sofas lined up in a circle, with a rectangular shaped table in the middle. Several bookcases and cupboards were lined up at the walls of the house which were bare and didn't lead to any rooms. There was another rectangular shaped table, much larger than the one at the sofas, near a large doorway that didn't have a door. There were several chairs arranged all around it, which the two angels guessed were used for dining, and the large doorway had lead to the kitchen. There was only one floor to the house however, but despite that, the place was actually quite spacious.

"Big Sister Selena, welcome back!" A small group of children cried the moment they saw the female half-elf. Both angels were not surprised at the fact that there were children here. It was the fact that they were all half-elves that surprised them the most. Sparing each other a glance, the duo realised that they were both thinking of the same thing.

The children all flocked to Selena almost immediately, surrounding both Teez and her, asking a multitude of questions. Teez shook his head sadly in reply to them. It was Selena who answered most of the questions.

"But more importantly, did the other children go back before their parents started looking for them?" Selena asked, patting each child on the head.

"Yeah! They all went home early cause they saw Carlos' dad looking for him. It looks like he managed to find Carlos..."

"Yeah..." Teez muttered sadly.

"Don't worry, Teez! I'm sure you can see each other again!" The other children encouraged together.

"Thanks, guys!" Teez replied, giving them a huge smile. "Come on, let's play something! We need to leave the adults to look after Big Brother Dias!"

"Big Brother Kratos! Big Brother Yuan! Please make sure that Big Brother Dias recovers from his injuries! Without him, there won't be anyone to protect us from the big baddie adults and the big baddie monsters!" All the children yelled at the same time, and went over to the sofa to play something together.

Both angels glanced at each other once again, both thinking the exact same thing. A groan from Dias and a whine from Noishe snapped them out of it however. Then remembering about the injured half-elf, Kratos turned, rested his hand on Noishe's neck and did a quick examination on Dias. The twin blade was already quite weak from blood loss and had his head buried in the fur on Noishe's back. He was trying his best not to pass out, almost failing miserably. Kratos will need to seal those wounds fast in order to stop Dias from loosing any more blood.

Yuan, who sensed the distress from the expression on Kratos' face, asked Selena to bring them to Dias' room. Leaving the children to play, Selena lead them to a room that was at the right side of the house. The bed laid beside the window of that room. There was a small lamp table at the other side of the bed, opposite to the window. Then in the corner, was a bookshelf with several books on it, and just beside it, was a cupboard. There were two chairs lined up at the side of the wall that were for people to sit on.

Kratos lead Noishe to the bed beside the window and proceeded to help Dias off the protozoan. Yuan stepped up to help his human friend with it. After successfully getting the half-elven swordsman on his bed, Kratos unbuckled his bag and tossed it to Yuan. Opening it up, the blue-haired half-elf proceeded to rummage through the bag for the necessary stuff they would need.

Selena looked at the duo work with worried eyes. Noishe, sensing her worry, trotted to where the female stood and nudged her hand softly, as if attempting to reassure her that he will be fine. Selena turned to look at the huge dog-like creature, as if surprised at this action.

"Are you trying to tell me that it will be fine?" Selena asked softly. Noishe replied with a whine, which made her wonder if Noishe was really just an oversized dog, or a completely different species from dogs altogether. Perhaps she would ask his owner later.

Dias turned weakly to look at Kratos, who in turn, had closed his eyes and stretched out his hands just above his body. Concentrating hard, the familiar glow of healing magic appeared at the swordsman's hands, as he silently called upon the healing powers that had been granted to him by the faeries of Lake Cryst, which resided in Ymir Forest. Gathering healing mana and combining it with the faeries' power, Kratos's healing spell started taking effect, sealing some of the larger wounds that were on Dias.

"Faeries, spirits that dance in the air, lend me thy healing power! Faerie Light!"

Dias was enveloped in a golden aura just as Kratos completed his spell. All of the half-elf's worst injuries were healed, leaving only the minor ones. The healing spell itself also stopped the twin blade from loosing any more blood. Just as Dias registered what happened, he finally passed out from blood loss.

Selena was dumbstruck. A human had just used magic right in front of her! She was gaping all the way, trying to think of something to say, but no words came out. Noishe gave a whine, which caused Kratos to look their way, and noticed the look of surprise and shock on the female half-elf's face.

"Selena?"

"Oh!" Selena cried, immediately snapping out of her thoughts. "I'm sorry! It's just that you just used magic! Humans aren't supposed to be able to use magic!" Selena continued in a hurry.

"There is one group of humans that can," Yuan replied, taking out the bandages he was looking for from Kratos' bag, mashed up some apple and lemon gels, applying them onto the wounds on Dias that wasn't healed by Kratos' healing spell. "Those that had been magically infused with aionis," Yuan continued as he started bandaging up the rest of the wounds on the half-elven swordsman.

"What's that?"

"It's a material that has the ability to absorb mana from its surroundings," Kratos explained, turning back to look at Yuan, who was done with the bandages. "Yuan, he's lost a lot of blood. We need to perform a blood transfusion in order to ensure that he will live."

"Great," Yuan muttered. "I hate blood transfusions. Very messy procedure. And if the blood ain't compatible---" Yuan cut himself off and shuddered at the thought.

"Blood transfusion?" Selena asked innocently.

"It's a procedure where you transfer blood from someone to another person," Kratos explained, giving out a huge sigh.

"The last time we did that...way too messy..." Yuan murmured, refusing to think about it.

"Wa-Wait a minute...you mean Dias may not live if we don't do th-this...blood transfusion thing?" Selena stammered, finally realising what Kratos had said just now.

Kratos simply nodded in reply.

"Then, take my blood!" Selena cried in a panicked tone, rushing to Dias' bedside in an instant.

"Hold it right there, Selena," Yuan said, glaring into the eyes of the female half-elf. "If your blood is not compatible with the receiving party, the receiving party's body system will reject the blood, and put his or her life in danger. In most cases, death."

"Th-Then? What are we going to do?" Selena stammered once again.

"First, you need to freakingly calm down!" Yuan snapped, getting a bit jumpy with Selena's panic. "Second, does he have any known family members?"

Selena shook her head. "No...He was brought to this village by his human mother when he was only twelve years old. Several years later, his mother passed on, and he's been living here in Serant ever since, for about a hundred years...I have no idea who his blood father was..."

"Kratos..." Yuan said, turning to look at the human angel. "How are we...?"

"Doesn't matter," Kratos replied, closed his eyes and started gathering mana. The blue color of the water element gathered into a ball in-between the swordsman's hands as he muttered a few words quickly. "Maiden of the Mist, Undine!" Responding to her pact-maker's call, the Summon Spirit of Water appeared before them.

"Th- Isn't that a summon spirit?" Selena asked, still somewhat jumpy. "Y-You can summon?"

"Selena..." Yuan sighed, getting tired of Selena's uneasiness and panic. "Kratos is a summoner, of course he can make pacts with summon spirits and summon them...and also, summoners are originally full-blooded humans. Now, can you please calm down?"

"Oh," was all Selena managed to say. "Sorry...It's just, Dias has never been this seriously injured before...that's why I'm a bit panicky..."

"Please, just calm down," Yuan muttered. "Kratos knows what he's doing. Plus, he's a much better healer than most doctors out there."

"How is it that you can say that with so much confidence?" Selena muttered bitterly.

"I've known Kratos very much longer than you have known Dias," Yuan replied, deciding to shift himself and stood beside the female half-elf.

"But...how is that possible? I've known Dias for a hundred years! And Kratos is a human---" Selena sputtered.

"We had eternity to do that," Yuan whispered softly.

_"Wait a minute...are they immortal? How is it possible?"_ Selena question herself, but decided not to wonder about it and turned back to Kratos who was conversing with Undine. She saw the summon spirit shake her head and Kratos nodding back in reply to the water maiden. Then giving a bow, Undine disappeared in a swirl of water mana.

"No good," Kratos said as he turned to look at the two half-elves. "There is no one nearby who's blood is compatible with Dias. Apparently, his blood type is quite rare..."

"But, even if there was, only a half-elf would help him..." Selena muttered sadly, eyes looking downcast. "Now what? We can't just let Dias die, can we? Like the children said, he's our defense against those..." Selena stopped for a while, trying to find the correct words to use. "...discriminative human adults that live at the other side of Serant..."

"Why is it that I got this feeling that we're forgetting something very important?" Yuan asked, turning to look at Kratos in puzzlement, trying to remember what they had forgotten.

"Keele..." Kratos breathed, as he realised what Yuan was trying to remember. "We forgot about the others!"

"Oh yeah...the others..." Yuan muttered, brushing his fringe to one side and shook his head. Then he pointed accusingly at Kratos. "You actually forgot about Lloyd!"

"Just shut up, Yuan," Kratos muttered, rubbing his head and muttered something in summon spirit language. He couldn't believe that he had actually forgotten about his son and their other companions. They must had been too absorbed with what was happening right now and forgotten that they had left the others behind. Turning around and walking to where Noishe sat, Kratos muttered a command to the protozoan. "Noishe, please go fetch the others and bring them here."

Noishe barked in reply and stood up, making his way out of the room. Selena had walked to the door of the room and peered out to see whether Noishe needed help to go out of the house, but was surprised to see that the dog-like creature had opened the door by himself using his teeth, trotted out, and pushed the door close with his snout.

"Noishe is way too smart to be a dog..." Selena commented, turning to look at their two rescuers. Yuan had made himself comfortable in one of the chairs and Kratos had gone over to the bookshelf, took a book from it, and started flipping through it. "Uhh...Noishe isn't an oversized dog, is he?"

"No," Kratos replied without looking up from what he was reading. "Noishe is a protozoan that had evolved into an arshis."

"Huh? I've never heard of those kind of creatures before," Selena asked, not quite understanding what animal it was.

"Protozoans were plentiful before the beginnings of the Kharlan War. They started dying out when the war started. By the end of the Kharlan War, Noishe was the only surviving protozoan and had lived up until this day," Kratos explained, bored out of his mind from flipping through the book and placed it back on the bookshelf. Then, glancing at the other books on the shelf, the summoner took another one from it and started flipping through it.

"An almost extinct animal..." Selena whispered before she realised that both Kratos and Yuan were not doing anything else to help Dias. "Dias' life is still in danger!" She exclaimed. "Why aren't you two---"

"Relax, Selena," Yuan muttered from where he was sitting in a position where he had his right leg crossed over to his left, crossing his arms at his chest at the same time. "We can't do anything else for him until the rest of our companions arrive."

"But how is it going to save him?"

"We believe that among them, there is one who's blood is compatible with Dias," Kratos replied, again placing the book he was looking through back on the shelf and took a new one and started flipping through it.

"So we wait?" Selena asked the obvious.

"Yes, we wait," Yuan replied, eyes never leaving the half-elf that was lying in bed.

OoOoOoO

"I think we officially lost them," Sheena declared, after looking at the ground and the area for tracks for the third time. "They didn't even leave a single track behind."

"Do you think they forgot about us?" Colette asked innocently, holding her hands together.

"Of course not!" Genis replied, almost in a scream. "Kratos couldn't possibly...forget about his own son...right?" The half-elf mage continued as he turned to look at Lloyd.

"Looks like we'll just have to wait until Dad sends Noishe to find us," Lloyd replied, shrugging.

"I'll just take in the scenery around us then!" Keele exclaimed, dashing here and there, looking at the different flowers that grew around the field which they were currently at.

"Hmm...interesting...So I guess it's true that elves are the beings closest to nature, next to the legendary summoners of the Summoner Clan..." Raine mused, tapping her finger at her chin.

"Wha? How did you know that?" Genis asked, surprised at his older sister. He was pretty sure that Kratos, who was a summoner from the said Summoner Clan, didn't mention something like that to them.

"I read about that back at the Summoner Sanctuary earlier today," Raine replied.

"The place where you upset Kratos with your archaeological mania?" Genis asked, which earned him a hard smack from his older sister. "Ow..."

Raine turned and looked away from the others. It was true that she had upset the human angel earlier today, she couldn't deny it, which was also for this reason the half-elf healer was trying to avoid Kratos. She gave out a huge sigh and decided to sit down on the grass, having nothing else better to do.

Colette decided to see if she can spy Noishe looking for them. Spreading her pink angel wings, Colette flew up into the sky and looked all around them. Lloyd noticed this and decided to ask what she was doing.

"I'm trying to see if I can see Noishe trying to find us!"

"That's a great idea, Colette!" Lloyd yelled back. "Let me know if you see anything!"

Colette stayed in the air for a few minutes, but there was no sign of Noishe. All the former chosen could see were Keele running around with so much energy, looking at flowers which made her wonder whether the elf had a bout of sugar rush or something. Professor Raine was sitting on the grass and staring at the sky, seemingly thinking of something. Both Lloyd and Sheena were walking around, also looking to see if they can spot Noishe coming towards them. Genis had decided to take out his kendama and practice with it, using a completely rhythm which Colette had never seen before. The young angel knew that the half-elf mage used the rhythm from the tapping on his kendama to remember some of his more powerful spells. Perhaps Genis was practicing a new spell which had been taught to him by Keele?

Just as Colette was about to return to the ground, her angelic hearing picked up a faint sound of barking. Turning in that direction, she saw a dog-like creature with white-colored fur, mixed with some green at certain spots among that white fur, with huge ears that went in the opposite direction which it was running. There was no mistake about it. It was Noishe.

"Look! It's Noishe!" Colette shouted to her companions below.

"Where?" Lloyd yelled back, turning up to look at Colette.

The former chosen of mana pointed to the east. But just as Lloyd turned to look in that direction, Noishe had already arrived and literally smashed into the Eternal Swordsman, and pinned him to the ground. The protozoan licked Lloyd's face happily.

"Ack! Noishe!" Lloyd yelled in-between licks. "Get off me!"

Noishe immediately obeyed and barked.

"That's a good dog, Noishe," Lloyd said in compliment as he stood up. "Did Dad send you to find us?"

Noishe howled into the air, turned around and started walking in the opposite direction he came from.

"Come on, guys!" Lloyd half-yelled, half-commanded to the rest of the party. "Let's go!"

Everyone stood up quickly and proceeded to follow the arshis, so that they could reunite with the two angels which they got separated from earlier.

OoOoOoO

**thud thud thud**

"Selena, will you please settle down? Your walking is annoying the heck out of me."

"Sorry, Yuan," Selena apologised. "Although you told me to calm down, I just can't..."

Kratos looked up from what he was reading. After staring at nothing for a while, the summoner closed the book and placed it back onto the bookshelf. Then he turned to look at Yuan. "They're here."

"Finally," Yuan grumbled as he stood up and started walking towards the door of the room. Kratos followed suit, walking with quick strides. Selena, curious at how did they know that their companions were here, followed them. Upon reaching the door to the house, Yuan opened the door quickly and stepped out, with Kratos close behind. The summoner stopped beside the half-elf, who had his arms crossed. Selena merely stood at the door, and yet, she saw no one coming up towards the house.

"I don't see anyone..." Selena commented.

"Of course not," Yuan replied. "They are only just approaching this area."

"But how did you...?"

"I can hear Noishe's howling from a mile away," Kratos replied quickly to Selena's question.

"But I didn't hear anything just now...?"

"Don't worry about it..." Yuan murmured. Then he saw Noishe fast approaching them. The half-elf noticed Kratos turning towards that direction too, so he guessed the swordsman must have seen his pet approaching.

Kratos kneeled on the floor just as Noishe arrived. Hugging the protozoan over his neck, the summoner stroked and patted Noishe on the head. "Good job, Noishe." Noishe wagged his tail happily in response.

"Dad!"

Kratos looked up to see Lloyd waving at him. The summoner stood up just as his son broke into a run towards him. Colette and Sheena were walking quite close to each other, with Keele some distance behind the two girls, the back brought up by the two Sage siblings. Raine, of course, was trying to avoid eye contact with the blue-winged seraph, and Genis wondered why his older sister was trying to avoid Kratos.

Just as Lloyd reached Kratos, he drew the older swordsman into a tight hug. "I missed you!"

"Ugh...Lloyd...it's only been an hour!" Kratos gasped as the Eternal Swordsman hugged him. "I can't breathe..."

Lloyd promptly let go of his biological father. "Sorry!"

"It's probably because he was apart from you for five years, that's why he misses you," Yuan commented, smirking at father and son.

"Shut up, Yuan," Kratos mumbled.

Noishe suddenly turned and ran in the other direction. Apparently the arshis had decided that Keele was walking too slowly, thus he went up to the elf, forcefully hauled him onto his back, and dashed back to where Kratos and Yuan were.

"Hey! What the?" Keele yelled, apparently not too happy being forcefully brought over.

"Noishe understands the situation at hand, that's why he brought you over so quickly," Kratos said, helping the elf down from his faithful pet.

"What's the matter?" Lloyd asked, putting his hands at his sides. "It sounds like something happened during our separation."

"Of course," Yuan replied as he pushed Keele inside the house. "Come on, we're wasting time here! No matter how messy blood transfusion is, I'm still going to help through it, in order to save a life!"

"Yuan..." Kratos muttered as he turned around only to see Yuan pushing a reluctant and confused Keele into the house. "We still don't know for sure..."

"Are these your companions?" Selena asked silently. Kratos replied with a nod and followed Yuan into the house. "A mix of humans, half-elves and an elf, it must be nice to be able to work with each other in harmony..."

Lloyd turned to look at Selena. "Is something wrong with that?" He asked innocently, without knowing what was going on.

"No, nothing...!" Selena replied quickly and turned back into the house, dashing a bit in order to catch up to Kratos and Yuan, whom had already almost reached Dias' room, with the elf in tow. _"That boy called Kratos 'Dad'...How is that possible...?"_

"Lloyd, what's going on?" Sheena asked as both she and Colette reached the swordsman.

"I'm not sure," Lloyd replied, shrugging. "It sounds like there's someone injured inside...I think..."

"Someone's injured?" Raine asked as both the Sage siblings too reached the doorway to the house. "Perhaps I can be of service?"

"It sounds like Dad's already taken care of it," Lloyd replied. Noishe gave a low whine and nudged the Eternal Swordsman into the house. "You want us to go in?"

Noishe howled in reply, stepped into the house, and too, made his way to Dias' room. Lloyd and the others followed the protozoan there, with Raine closing the door to the house behind them. Noishe stood quietly outside the room, while the rest peered in. Inside, they saw a someone lying in bed, with Kratos, Yuan and Keele in a circle around the bed. The red-haired female half-elf stood nearby, just in front of the bookcase, looking on with a worried expression on her face.

"You said his name is Dias Silverlance?" Keele asked, not believing what he was hearing from the two seraphim.

"He has the same last name as you," Yuan replied, moving his hair out of his face. "Is your brother called Dias?"

"I...don't know..." Keele murmured, shaking his head. "My father never told me his name..."

"Then is there anyway to prove that he's indeed your half-brother?" Kratos asked, crossing his arms at chest level.

Keele closed his eyes and thought back to the time when his father had told him about his older half-brother who was a half-elf. His father didn't get the chance to tell the elf his brother's name before he passed on, thus Keele had no idea what his name was. It was about fifty years ago when it happened, and it was only till now that Keele finally had a chance to go out to seek him.

Selena continued to look on worriedly. Dias had never mentioned that he had a half-brother, so she wasn't sure whether the dual swordsman had one. The others were standing at the doorway, just looking at the scene unfold before them. Raine wanted to step up and see whether there was anything she could do to help, but the scholar was trying to avoid the very one person that was inside and thus decided against it. Noishe gave a low whine, also getting worried.

Keele finally opened his eyes just as he remembered something very important his father had told him. Turning around, the elf glanced at the red-haired half-elf that was there, acknowledging her presence. "Umm...excuse me, miss," Keele started. "Does he wear an exsphere?"

Selena was quite surprised with the question. She was looking at the elf with surprised eyes and wondered why he had asked that.

"I'm sorry, Miss, if I've directed that question to the wrong person...I thought you knew him..." Keele squeaked softly.

"No!" Selena cried, snapping out of her thoughts. "Of course I know him! I'm just---"

"---very panicky right now," Yuan finished for her. "Selena, for the last time, stop being so panicky!"

"I...I'm sorry!" Selena replied quickly, and returned to answering the question she was asked. "Err...yeah. Dias has his exsphere on his right hand, hidden under his glove..."

"Thank you," Keele replied, turning back to look at the half-elf who might be his older half-brother.

Kratos, taking the hint, proceeded to remove the glove off Dias' right hand. Just as Selena had said, there was a light blue-colored exsphere there, along with a golden-colored mount which acts as the key crest. The key crest was in an oval-shape, very much the same as the key crest that was on Keele's exsphere. Kneeling down and reaching his right hand out, the elf turned to Kratos.

"Kratos, you know how to see the rune symbols and structures on key crests?"

Kratos nodded. "Different dwarves use different rune symbols, structures and combinations when making key crests. When one is apprenticed under a dwarf, or is a family member to that dwarf, they only learn how to make that particular dwarf's key crest. Thus no two family of dwarves make the same type of key crests. The shape of key crests made by the same dwarf may differ, but the rune symbols, structures and combinations on it are always the same."

"Wow...Dad...you knew all that?" Lloyd gasped. He also knew about that since he was raised by a dwarf. "But Dad, it is said that only the master dwarven blacksmith and his family knew how to tell the differences between the rune symbols and structures on key crests. But that family of dwarves had already passed on a few hundred years ago, and the knowledge was said to be lost. You know how to look at them?"

"Lloyd, you forget that he's had eternity to study on key crests," Yuan interrupted the Eternal Swordsman. "I wouldn't be surprised if I were you."

"Oh," Lloyd replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "How silly of me..."

Kratos sighed. The truth was, the seraph actually learned his crafting and forging abilities from the master dwarven blacksmith. His father was actually good friends with the dwarf, thus the summoner knew that same dwarf. He was also the very same dwarf that forged the Flamberge for Kratos so long ago. But as Lloyd had said, the master dwarven blacksmith had passed on, and so had his family, and he was the only one left that had all the knowledge belonging to the master smith. And in order to protect that very same knowledge from the wrong hands, the truth was hidden from the world, and only both he and Yuan knew.

Kratos turned his attention back to Keele's request. "Keele, you're saying that both you and your brother's key crests were made by the same dwarf?"

Keele nodded. "Yes. My father told me that both he and my brother's human mother were both used in an exsphere experiment called the Angelus Project, that's how both of our exspheres came about. My exsphere belonged to our father while my brother's belonged to his mother. He said that their exspheres will one day help us find each other..."

Kratos immediately flinched. Just behind him, he heard his son give a low gasp also. "Wait a minute...elves were being experimented on too?" Kratos growled, gritting his teeth. "Just how far did he---!"

"Too far," Yuan replied. "Way too far...he even went to the extent of experimenting on half-elves..."

"Yuan, how did you know about that?" Kratos asked, slight anger evident in his tone of voice.

"I hacked into Kvar's information on the Angelus Project, remember?" Yuan replied. After a few seconds, the angel frowned. "Kratos, I...I'm sorry if mentioning his name and the Angelus Project brought back some bad memories for both you and Lloyd..." He whispered.

"No...I'm fine..." Kratos replied. "But...experimenting on elves and half-elves on top of humans...that bastard..."

"But we killed him...together, didn't we? Although at that time I didn't know..."

Kratos immediately turned to address his son. It was Lloyd who had said that. He noticed that his son was looking at the exsphere that the swordsman was equipped with, the exsphere that was created with his mother's life, Anna's life. After a few seconds though, Lloyd turned to look back at him with a smile on his face.

"Don't worry, Dad. I'm fine too. Also, you need to save someone's life right now, right? You should go about doing just that."

Kratos nodded slowly and turned back to the task at hand. Keele had realised that something bad had happened many years ago to them, that's why they were both sad about it. When the elf first found out about their relationship with each other, he was puzzled at how it was possible. But he remembered that both Kratos and Yuan were actually more than 4000 years old, so something like that wasn't strange, but for those that didn't know, it would be. Just like the expression that was on the red-haired female half-elf's face right now, because she didn't know.

Kratos knelt down beside Keele and took the elf's right hand. Then taking Dias' right hand with his other, he examined both key crests on their hands, eyes darting between the both of them, making comparisons and taking down mental notes on the rune symbols used and the structure and combination in which they were used to make the key crests. After a few minutes of observation, the summoner stood back up.

"The key crests were made by the same dwarf," Kratos concluded as he nodded.

"Then that means...?" Selena said, eyes immediately lighting up, looking hopeful.

"That means Dias is indeed my half-brother," Keele replied softly, trying very hard not to cry.

"Which also means that we can save his life," Yuan added, crossing his arms, frowning. "Although I hate doing blood transfusions."

"Now, we need all of you to get out of the room and leave us alone to do this," Kratos added, turning back to the others. Lloyd and the others were quick to react, moving away from the doorway, but Selena refused to go out.

"I want to stay in the room!"

"No, you can't," Kratos replied, frowning at the female half-elf. "Blood transfusion is a very delicate procedure and utmost care must be taken during it. There must not be any disturbance or both parties might die."

"But, what about Yuan?" Selena retorted, refusing to listen to Kratos.

"Yuan is my helper, so he stays," Kratos replied, crossing his arms. "He's the only one that knows how I work."

"I won't disturb the both of you!" Selena countered further, still refusing to budge.

"Selena," Yuan said, finally interrupting in on the conversation. "Do you think we would allow you to stay in here, knowing your state of mind right now? It would only disturb us if you stayed in here."

"I..."

Kratos knew that they were just wasting more time trying to get Selena out of the room. Instead, he turned to Noishe and gave the protozoan a nod. Noishe nodded, trotted into the room, and forcefully took Selena out of the room.

"Hey!"

"Got Noishe Forced," Lloyd commented absent-mindedly.

"What kind of expression is that, Lloyd?" Genis scolded his best friend.

"I just made it up," Lloyd replied, whistling and made his way to the sofa to sit down.

After Noishe got the female half-elf out of the room, the arshis closed the door behind him with a swing of his tail, leaving both angels and the reunited brothers alone.

"If all else fails, get Noishe to intervene, huh?" Yuan commented.

"That's usually the way it is," Kratos replied.

"You have such a smart pet, Kratos," Keele said, very envious of the fact that the summoner had such a smart and reliable pet.

"He's helpful at times, if Noishe isn't pinning you down and licking your face wet," Yuan groaned.

Kratos sighed at the comment. "We should just get this over with quickly. Yuan, get my things ready."

The half-elf angel nodded and proceeded to rummage through Kratos' bag once more for the stuff they needed.

OoOoOoO

_"You're not angry with me?" _

_"Why should I be? The only reason we had to stay apart was because of our exspheres. We must not, at all costs, let him get hold of them." _

_"But I bore a child with another woman...although she passed on right after giving birth..." _

_"Cordis Silverlance, you silly elf. I did say that we were to go on with our normal lives when we went our separate ways. Remember why we had to do that?" _

_"So that he cannot find both exspheres easily," Cordis replied. _

_"That's right. Besides, Dias seems to have grown quite attached to the little one." _

_"Indeed he has," Cordis replied, turning to look at his two sons play. His elven son had just started learning how to walk and Dias, his half-elven son, was helping him along. "Dias is amazingly understanding for one so young...isn't he? Accepting his half-brother so easily..." _

_"Yes. And that is reason enough for me to accept your second son as well." _

_"Martha...if only everyone in this world were so understanding...just like the two of you..." Cordis murmured, thoughts trailing off. _

_"You know that's not possible," Martha replied softly. _

_"Yeah, I know..." _

_"Wook Daadi, I can waak!" _

_"Keele is such a smart kid!" Dias cheered, jumping up and down happily. _

_The small elven child slowly made his way to his father. Upon reaching Cordis, the child drew him into a hug. "Daadi!" _

_"We should get going," Martha said just as she stood up, holding onto Dias' hand just as he walked over by his mother. "It's not wise for us to stay together for too long." _

_"You're right," Cordis replied, standing up also, carrying Keele in his hands. _

_"Dad! Will I be able to see Keele again?" Dias asked, looking at his father with hopeful eyes. _

_Cordis turned to look into the sapphire eyes belonging to his half-elven son, those very same eyes that had belonged to his mother. "I'm sure you will. One day, when the world is one again, and there isn't much discrimination left on this land, you will meet each other again, and the exspheres belonging to both your mother and I will be the thing that reunites the both of you."_

OoOoOoO

Dias slowly opened his eyes. Wondering where he was, the half-elf looked around and realised that he was in his own room back at Serant. Then he remembered. He had suffered serious injuries and was brought back here. Just as Kratos used a healing spell on him, he had passed out from blood loss. Sitting up slowly and examining himself, Dias noticed that he had been bandaged up. The worst of his wounds were all gone. Apart from feeling slightly dizzy, he was fine.

_"Weird, I thought I had lost a lot of blood and won't be able to live through this...and yet I'm here, in one piece..."_ Deciding not to think too much about it, the half-elf slowly got out of bed and his mind wandered to the dream he had just before he woke up.

_"I was having dreams of the past...I wonder why..."_

Dias stood and made his way to the door, wondering what was happening outside as the door to his room was closed. Reaching for the doorknob, the half-elf opened the door and peered outside. He noticed that some of the children were playing with Noishe at the corner, laughing away as the dog did tricks to amuse the children. A yellow-haired human girl wearing white-colored clothes together with another auburn brown-haired human boy wearing red-colored clothes were also playing with the children, clapping and praising Noishe with the tricks he was doing. Then, just a bit further away from that group of children, three of the children were playing a board game with a black-haired female human who wore purple-colored ninja clothes.

Then, turning around to look at the sofa, Dias spotted Yuan sitting on it and typing something on his computer. The half-elf occasionally stopped typing and thought about something before he continued. Then over at the bookshelves, he saw two other half-elves sitting by it, both with silver-colored hair, reading books that were taken from the shelves.

"Are you feeling better now, Keele?"

Dias froze upon hearing that name. Turning in the direction of the voice, he saw Kratos with an elf that had the same hair color as he did. The elf was sitting on a chair by the table near the door that lead to the kitchen. Kratos was changing a bandage on the elf's left arm. The swordsman had just finished doing that as the elf spoke.

"Yeah. Apart from the slight dizziness I feel, I'm mostly fine."

"That is a normal thing to feel after a procedure such as blood transfusion," Kratos replied, nodding. "Here, drink this. I'll help you recover your lost blood faster." The swordsman then handed the elf a bowl of soup which he seemed to have taken out from the kitchen earlier. Taking the spoon in his right hand, the elf started drinking the soup.

_"Blood transfusion? Was my life saved through blood transfusion? If it was, then that elf was the one who gave me some of his blood...could it really be?"_ Dias wondered to himself. Deciding not to ponder on it further, the half-elf made his way to the table.

Kratos looked up as he heard someone approaching them. Dias sat down at another chair at the table. Kratos nodded as he acknowledged the half-elf's presence.

"Are you feeling alright?"

Dias nodded. "Apart from feeling a bit dizzy, I'm fine mostly. Your healing magic is pretty impressive."

"Yeah...it's pretty impressive isn't it? For a human that is..." Keele mumbled.

"It is because of the power of the faeries, that's why it's so strong," Kratos replied. "You can't credit me for everything."

"Yeah, I know," Keele replied, drinking more of his soup.

Kratos pushed the chair he was sitting on and stood up. "I'll get you some of the soup too," the swordsman said and made his way back into the kitchen.

"Umm..." Dias started. "It's been bugging me, but you don't seem so surprised that Kratos, as a human, could use magic. Do you know why?"

"You ever heard of aionis?"

"You mean the mineral that has the ability absorb mana from its surroundings?" Dias replied.

"Yes. Kratos' been magically infused with the power of aionis, that's why he can manipulate mana," Keele replied as he drank more of his soup.

"I see...should have guessed...haha..."

Kratos finally came out of the kitchen, carrying another bowl in his hands. Taking his seat back at the table, the magic swordsman pushed the bowl of soup towards Dias.

"Thank you," Dias replied, taking the spoon that came with it and started sipping it.

Kratos stared at the Silverlance siblings, who were in turn, staring at their soup, drinking in silence. Keele knew that Dias was his half-brother, and yet the elf didn't attempt to make conversation with the half-elf. Granted, Dias _did_ try to make conversation with Keele, he knew thanks to his angelic hearing, but it was on the topic of how he was able to use magic, which was totally not related to the both of them at all.

Getting tired of the silence between the two half-siblings, Kratos finally decided to say something. "Aren't you going to say something to each other?"

Both elf and half-elf stopped what they were doing and turned to look at the swordsman. Kratos was getting impatient with the silence between the both of them. Placing a hand on the table, the summoner tapped his fingers impatiently on it.

Dias closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. Then letting all that air out, the half-elf decided to say something. "Your name is Keele?"

Keele nodded. "Umm...yeah. Keele Silverlance..."

"You really are my half-brother that I've met a few decades ago..." Dias mumbled. In his heart, he was overjoyed to be able to see his elven brother again. Whatever their father had said came true. They would be reunited one day. And that day was today.

"I...didn't know my brother's name was Dias," Keele continued sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "I don't even have any recollection of ever meeting you..."

"I don't really blame you," Dias replied, turning back to stare at his soup again. "You were still very little, just learning how to walk."

"Really?" Keele turned to look at the half-elf in surprise.

"Yes," Dias nodded as he looked away from his soup at the elf. "That was the only time I ever met you. But...how did you know about me, and how did you know that we were related?"

"Father told me about you just before he passed away..." Keele whispered softly, turning to stare at his soup. "He said that his exsphere, which he gave me just before he told me about you, would help me find you..."

"That's strange...I dreamt about the past just before I woke up, and the dream I had was about that time when I met you, and that's exactly what Father had told me before I left with my Mother," Dias said, half-musing at the same time.

"How coincidental..." Keele murmured, taking a sip of his soup. "You dreamt about it right at the time when I finally got to meet you."

"You can sometimes see the future in your dreams."

Both Silverlance siblings nearly jumped up from their seats. They had forgotten that Kratos was there with them, listening in on their conversation. The swordsman had suddenly said something which ended up giving them a shock.

"Kr-Kratos!" Keele said after calming down a little. "Don't give us a shock like that!"

"It's not my fault the two of you forgot about me," Kratos replied calmly, crossing his arms on the table.

"But you didn't have to..." Dias started, but then frowned a few seconds later. "What was it you said about dreams?"

"Never mind," Kratos mumbled. "Nothing important."

"What's up? Giving them one of your lectures?"

"Yuan, I'm not giving them a lecture," Kratos muttered, turning to the half-elf that had came up beside him. "Weren't you working on your radar?"

"I was, but the area where the sofas were was getting kinda noisy," Yuan muttered with slight irritation in his voice. He was carrying his computer with him in his hands when he came over. Then pulling out a chair that was to Kratos' right, the half-elf sat down on it. "I can't work when the place around me is so noisy," Yuan added as he put his computer on the table and stared at it again. "I have sensitive hearing afterall."

"Not much luck?"

"I tried your suggestion, but I'm still running into a lot of bugs..." Yuan replied, still staring into nothingness, seemingly thinking of something.

"Did you try setting it to an even smaller scan area?" Kratos asked.

"It's already set to the smallest possible area the three radars are able to scan, thus I can't set the area any smaller."

"So, you don't have any other choice but to make it work the way it is," Kratos replied, burying his face in his crossed arms.

"Yeah," Yuan mumbled, staring off into space.

"Forgive me for asking, but are you guys on a journey of some sort?" Dias asked, putting his spoon into the bowl just as he finished his soup.

"Yeah," Keele replied just as he did the same when he finished the soup. "We're on a quest to save the Giant Yggdrasill Tree," Keele continued just as he turned to face his brother.

"Save the tree?" Dias repeated. "Is something happening to the tree?"

Keele nodded. "Something is poisoning the Mana Tree, and we're trying to find out what is causing this and stop it."

"I see..." Dias mumbled, trailing off.

"It's frustrating though," Kratos mumbled from his position, slightly muffling his words. "When we do not know what is happening and can only wander around like blind mice."

"Is that so..."

"Hey! Lunch is ready!" Selena screamed from the kitchen. The children that were playing with the others immediately dashed to the kitchen to help bring lunch out. Noishe plopped down in the corner, tried with all the tricks he did for the past hour. Sheena started gathering the pieces of the board game she was playing with three of the children up and put them away. Both Raine and Genis stopped what they were reading, went over to the sofas and sat down together with Colette, who had already sat down earlier.

Yuan plugged his ears from the sudden outburst, breaking the half-elf out of his thought process. Keele chuckled from that act, remembering that was exactly what had happened when he woke up at the inn back at Luin. Kratos had his head buried in his arms thus his ears ended up being half-covered, shutting out some of the scream. Dias was wondering why Yuan had covered his ears at that. Selena didn't even scream out that loud, at least to him anyways. Then he noticed his elven brother chuckling to himself. Did the elf know something he didn't? Then deciding not to ponder about it, the half-elf stood up and headed towards the kitchen, seeing if he could help with anything.

"Finally!" Lloyd exclaimed as he rushed to the kitchen. "I'm starving!"

Kratos' looked up from Lloyd's enthusiastic comment. He then grabbed the Eternal Swordsman by the wrist as he passed by. The sudden jolt threw the boy backwards, and Kratos caught him easily with both of his arms as he turned ninety degrees to his left from where he was sitting. "Lloyd, where are your manners?"

"Oh, come on, Dad! Why?" Lloyd complained from his position.

"Right now, you're a guest at someone else's house," Kratos reprimanded as he pushed his son up. "You must observe your manners."

"You're such an old man!"

"Well, _excuse_ me for being an old man," Kratos muttered as he let the grip he had on Lloyd loose and sighed. Lloyd then proceeded to pull out a chair that was to his father's left and sat down on it while Kratos turned back to face the table. Yuan sighed as he closed his computer and put it away in one of his item packs.

"Well, at least you're not the only old man!" Lloyd commented out of a sudden as he turned to face the two seraphim.

Yuan twitched slightly and then turned to address the red-clad swordsman. "Are you talking to me?"

"Uhh...was I?" Lloyd replied innocently. Just then, a single shard of ice fell down on Lloyd's head. "Ahh! Dad, save me from your rabid half-elf friend!"

"Don't think hiding behind your father can save you!" Yuan declared as he rained more icicles on the Eternal Swordsman's head.

"Ow ow ow! Dad, help!" Lloyd yelled as he shielded his head from Yuan's magic with his hands.

Kratos buried his face in his arms once more on the table. "You're the one asking for it," the summoner mumbled.

"Please, Dad! I had no idea his personality was like this!" Lloyd pleaded, not letting his hands off his head.

"Well then, now you know," Kratos mumbled, still not making a move to do anything. "And, just for your information, this is the _true_ Yuan, not the one you knew from five years ago."

"Ow! I guess---ow! It was a bad move---ow! On my part!" Lloyd half-talked, half-yelling out in pain. "I'm sorry---ow! About the old man comment---ow! Please stop, Yuan!"

Yuan finally stopped his spell, brushing his hair to one side, still glaring at his best friend's son. Keele had all the while chuckled at the scene, finding the whole display very amusing. Just at that point, icicles started raining on him too.

"Hey!" Keele exclaimed as he used a weak fire spell to counter it. "I didn't do anything!"

"I find your chuckle annoying," Yuan replied, not letting up his icicle rain, especially since the elf was able to counter it. "And think of it as stress relief."

"But I'm not stressed right now!" Keele countered, still returning Yuan's spell with his own magic.

"But I am," Yuan sneered.

"What exactly are you stressing on?" Lloyd asked.

"My radar," Yuan replied, not letting up his ice spell. "I can't seem to get it to work properly."

"You don't have to rain icicles on people just for that..." Lloyd mumbled softly. Then the swordsman turned to his biological father who hadn't moved since he had buried his face in his arms again. "Dad, do something!"

"Give me a break..." Kratos mumbled without looking up, choosing to ignore the mayhem that was going on right now.

OoOoOoO

"Thanks for the great lunch!" Lloyd exclaimed as he plopped down on the sofa.

"You're a good cook, Selena," Genis commented as he aided in the clearing of the dishes.

"Thank you," Selena replied, taking the dishes from Genis' hands.

"You think you can teach me some of your recipes?"

"Why of course, Genis," Selena replied, giving the half-elven mage a smile. Genis then grabbed the rest of the plates and followed the female half-elf into the kitchen.

Colette sat down beside Lloyd and turned to stare at the ceiling. Both Kratos and Yuan were sitting at the opposite side of where Lloyd and Colette were, and the half-elf angel resumed typing on his computer, trying to get is radar to work. Kratos had his eyes closed as he absent-mindedly traced some sort of symbol in the air with his right finger. Raine had gone back over to the bookshelves and resumed reading, also partly to avoid the summoner that was sitting over at the sofas. Sheena had joined the half-elven teacher and started reading a book by the bookshelves. Noishe had fallen asleep in the corner of the house after taking his lunch, tired from his ordeal from two hours earlier. Both Keele and Dias were with the children. The elf was telling stories that had been passed down in Heimdall, and the children, together with his half-brother, were listening with great interest.

Their activities were interrupted by a loud and frantic banging on the door however. Dias, who was all too familiar with that kind of knocking, quickly left the children and proceeded to open the door, to find one of the other half-elven residents of Serant at the other side of it. He had green-colored hair, wore a simple brown t-shirt with a white-colored vest over it, a pair of black pants and brown shoes.

"Dias, they're coming again! And in larger numbers than before!"

"What? Are you sure, Raides?" Dias asked, receiving a nod for his reply.

"And the humans, they're in a panic!" Raides added.

"And they'll just blame us for this again," Dias mumbled. Scratching his head, he pondered what to do next.

"Dias, what's wrong?" Keele asked as he came up to his brother right after the children scrambled to their rooms. "The children looked terrified."

"It's the monsters from the forest nearby," Dias replied. "They're attacking the village again."

"Attacking the village? You make it sound like it's a common thing?" Keele replied, surprised.

"It happened quite regularly since two months ago," Dias muttered in a frustrated tone.

"What are we going to do? We barely managed to push the monsters back the last time, and we suffered heavy casualties," Raides said, worried.

"I don't know..." Dias muttered. Then as if suddenly remembering something, he turned to Keele. "Wait a minute, Keele. Are you able to use the ancient elven magic?"

"Umm...yes," Keele replied, nodding. "Why?"

"Can you help us fight back the monsters with your magic?"

"Of course I will!" Keele cried, closing his fists at shoulder level.

"Don't forget about us," Yuan said. He had came up to the two half-siblings with everyone else in tow, ready to help out at anytime. Even both Selena and Genis had came out of the kitchen to see what was going on and whether they could do anything to help. "All of us here uses an exsphere, so don't count us out."

Dias nodded. He was grateful for the extra help. Perhaps this time they would be able to get away unscathed. Then he turned to Selena. "Selena, please look after the children."

"Don't worry, I will," Selena replied. "Just be careful out there."

"I will," Dias replied as he stepped out of the house. The others started to follow the half-elf's lead.

However, Kratos was a bit reluctant to let Yuan go out there. The angel had heard what Dias said just now, about the humans blaming the half-elves here on Serant for the monster attacks, thanks to his angelic hearing. If the humans went out of hand against the half-elves, Yuan might react very negatively to it and would end up doing things the half-elf didn't mean to do. Grabbing Yuan's hand, Kratos dragged his best friend further into the house in order to voice his concern.

"Yuan, are you sure you're going to be alright out there?"

"What do you mean?" Yuan asked with a confused expression on his face.

"I'm sure you heard what Dias said just now, about the humans blaming the half-elves for the monster attacks," Kratos replied, worry written all over his face.

"Yeah...I know..." Yuan muttered, looking away from the human angel. "I'll be fine," Yuan replied after a few seconds, turning back to face Kratos once again. "As long as you're there, I can always count on you to stop me, right?"

Kratos sighed and turned back towards the door to follow the others. "Do as you wish."

"Thank you, Kratos," Yuan whispered as he followed the summoner.

OoOoOoO

The battlefield was in a chaos. Monsters were swarming everywhere, trying to get into Serant to attack it. The humans were all scrambling around, trying to protect their children while running to safety at the same time. The half-elves, whom were fewer in numbers compared to the humans, tried to hold them all back. Fire magic flew everywhere randomly hitting the plant-type monsters while some of the others were armed with swords, spears and axes, took up the frontlines as distraction while the mages used their spells.

However, the monsters still overwhelmed the half-elves that were trying to defend their home village, especially since none of them uses an exsphere. In the end, their efforts were futile and the monsters managed to breakthrough the frontlines, injuring the half-elves that were fighting there. The monsters, thinking that victory was theirs, advanced quickly only to be stopped by a group of warriors that had just arrived, throwing a series of attacks at the monsters, defending the fallen half-elves.

"Root of all creation, grant us the breath of life! Revitalize!" A large blue-colored healing circle appeared beneath the injured half-elves just as the spell took effect. Tiny, green-colored balls of light circled all around them, almost completely healing any immediate wounds they had suffered.

"Power of the purest light, grant me thy power to save life! Healing Light!" Just as the blue healing circle disappeared from beneath the group of warrior half-elves, a white-colored one, as large as the blue one just now, appeared beneath them. Light rose all around them for a brief moment and white-colored balls of light circled them, effectively healing the rest of the wounds they had.

The half-elves that were fighting quickly stood up and looked to see who were their reinforcements. It was a group of eight consisting of four humans, three half-elves and a single elf. They had arrived together with two other half-elves they knew were from Serant. Dias Silverlance, their strongest warrior and the only one that uses an exsphere in the village, and the other was Raides Whorl, the half-elf which they had sent to alert Dias.

"Dias, who are those people? Humans, half-elves and an elf fighting with each other..." One of the half-elves that was near the twin blade asked.

"They're new friends of mine," Dias replied, drawing his swords. "Don't worry, they're here to help! Let's do our best too!"

Dias quickly rushed to the frontlines, joining Lloyd, Colette, Sheena and Yuan there. Sheena had summoned the Fire Guardian to aid with the battle and also used the Fire Sylva Seal, one of the elemental seal spells she had gotten when she formed pacts with the summon spirits five years ago, on whomever she could, enchanting their weapons with fire mana. Somehow, for reasons unknown, she still possessed those despite the fact that the ninja no longer had her pacts with any of the summon spirits. Yuan, using Endow Blaze, aided Sheena with that task also.

Genis started tapping his kendama, quickly finding the rhythm which helps him remember the incantation for his Explosion spell. Raine stood vigilant in front of her brother, smashing her staff on any of the smaller monsters that came through. Normally, they were those that were able to fly, and those that were small and fast on their feet that were able to slip past the frontlines easily.

Kratos himself was doing the same thing Raine was doing some distance away. He was shielding Keele just as the elf threw fire spell after fire spell at the monsters, although it wasn't really fire magic at the same time. Keele was really just charging his arrows with fire mana and shooting them off at the airborne enemies while Kratos took on the ground ones. Keele was waiting for the opportune moment before he decided to cast his spell.

Both Dias and Sheena were dashing quickly towards one monster after another, attacking them one after another very quickly. Thanks to their speed, they were able to take out the weaker ones rather quickly. Dias, wielding his dual short swords and Sheena, wielding her Divine Judgment cards, both enchanted with fire mana, each landing a series of combo attacks, finishing their targets very quickly.

"You're pretty fast," Sheena commented to the half-elf.

"Thanks," Dias replied just as he finished off another monster. "That's quite a compliment, especially coming from a ninja."

"That's kind of flattering though," Sheena replied just as she used Pyre Seal on another monster. "I'm more of a guardian user than a ninja. I leave the more 'ninja' stuff to the others. You would probably make a much better assassin than I would."

"Is that so..." Dias replied, doing successive combos on another monster, killing it in just one move.

"You want to try it on someone that is among my companions?" Sheena challenged, forcing a monster away from her. "The last time I was sent to assassinate someone, I failed miserably and ended up being helped by her instead. Maybe you would have done a better job."

"Perhaps when I'm bored enough," Dias replied, crossing both his swords and did a cross cut on the monster he was currently attacking.

"One advice though," Sheena started, just as she used Cyclone Seal to levitate one of the monsters, which with the help of her summoned Fire Guardian, erased it out of existence. "Don't try it on Kratos."

"Why is that?"

"He's the one person that you would never want to attack from behind," Sheena said, as she shuddered at a memory of that time during Colette's Regeneration Journey, just after the ninja had formed an alliance with Lloyd and the others to save the people of Luin that had been taken to the Asgard Human Ranch. She had walked up to the swordsman from behind while he was in deep thought and nearly got herself killed from that.

"Sounds scary," Dias commented as he took down another monster.

"_Very_ scary. I thought I was gonna die," Sheena muttered.

"Then, I shall take your advice," Dias replied. Then the half-elf charged further into the monster fray, finding new targets to remove quickly. Sheena, together with her Fire Guardian, went in another direction, not wanting to hinder the twin blade any further.

Both Lloyd and Colette were fighting together with each other. They were up against a Dryad which was swinging its vines around at Lloyd. The Eternal Swordsman dodged them all easily however, and while it was distracted, Colette tossed her fire mana enchanted Angel's Halo chakrams at it from behind. The Dryad flinched from the pain and turned to face Colette, lashing out at the former Chosen. The vines hit Colette just as she brought up her chakrams to shield the attack, knocking her off balance, hitting the ground. The Dryad then took the opportunity to attack her again.

"Colette!" Lloyd yelled just as he dashed in front of Colette and shielded her with his Guardian defensive skill from the Dryad's vines. Then just before Lloyd could counterattack, the Dryad struck again, giving no room for the swordsman to attack.

"Damn," Lloyd cursed as he held his defenses up. "Colette, can you still continue on?"

"Of course!" Colette replied, standing up and gripping her chakrams tightly. "It's a bit hard not being able to use my angel powers right now, but that doesn't mean I can't do my best!"

"See if you can strike it then!" Lloyd replied. Colette nodded and used Dual Ray Thrust, throwing her chakrams one after the other in its attempt to strike the monster. Both weapons smacked it on its face, which seemed to have just made it madder, especially when it got smacked by the fire mana enchanted weapons again. Not being too happy about it, it attacked Colette again and the young angel wasn't able to dodge them once again.

"Colette!" Lloyd cried just as he dropped his Guardian skill. He had to anyway, especially since it was very draining on him to hold that skill for too long. Then the swordsman ran to her side. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Colette replied. "I think I injured myself though..."

"Damn," Lloyd cursed once more just as he noticed the wound on Colette. "We would need to get this healed. But that monster---"

"Lloyd, it's attacking!" Colette cried. Lloyd quickly turned and brought up Flamberge in the nick of time and slashed away at the vine which came at the both of them. However, just after the swordsman did that, more vines came at them as some sort of revenge for its lost vine which was burned away by the sword of fire. Lloyd prepared to shield from the attack once more, but there was no need to. A huge blade of wind cleanly sliced all of the vines into two, effectively stopping the attack. Subsequently, three fireballs smashed into the Dryad, making it flinch in pain.

Yuan stepped in front of them, holding his weapon in his right hand and sending more fireballs at the Dryad with his left. "Are the both of you alright?" The seraph asked without turning.

"I'm fine, but Colette's injured," Lloyd replied. "She needs to be healed."

"Then go quickly!" Yuan replied as he fireballed the Dryad again.

"But what about you?" Lloyd asked, helping Colette to stand up.

"Feh, I can take care of myself," Yuan replied, tossing more fireballs. "Even though Kratos isn't fighting with me right now, it doesn't mean that I'm not capable of doing this on my own!"

"Alright," Lloyd replied as he sheathed the Vorpal Sword and held onto Colette's hand, leaving Flamberge in his other hand, escorting her through the monster infested battlefield.

The Dryad's vines grew back just as Lloyd took Colette away. It swung them at Yuan, who rose his weapon in a standing position, and started spinning it in front of him. Just as the vines reached the spinning weapon in the motion similar to that of a fan which had been turned on, the action itself caused the vines of the Dryad to be cut off again just as they touched it. Reeling back its vines at such an unexpected defense on Yuan's part, the Dryad roared out in pain. The half-elf stopped spinning his weapon just as the Dryad retracted its attack. Dashing in at an incredible speed, Yuan quickly charged the Dryad. Once he reached the monster, Yuan attacked it with a series of slashes which ended with a downward slash, the half-elf's weapon slamming onto the ground at the end of it.

"Magnum Explosion!" A huge explosion of fire struck the Dryad just as Yuan called out his attack. A swirling storm of fire surrounded the monster, engulfing it in its blaze. The Dryad laid defeated on the ground from the attack. A few seconds later, its mana slowly dissipated back to the land.

"Small fry," Yuan said as an afterthought, rushing back into battle to aid the others when he was done.

"Professor Sage!"

Raine turned to the voice of the person calling his name and saw Lloyd coming towards the spot where both she and Genis were. Colette, who was being helped by Lloyd, was together with the swordsman.

"What's the matter, Lloyd?" Raine asked just as the Eternal Swordsman reached her together with Colette.

"Colette got injured just now," Lloyd replied. "I brought her over to be healed."

"I'm sorry I wasn't of much help," Colette apologised. "I guess I'm useless if I'm not using my angel powers afterall..."

"Colette, don't apologise!" Lloyd scolded. "How many times do I have to tell you that?"

"I'm sorry..."

"Colette!"

"Colette will always be Colette, apologising for everything," Genis said just as he let a spell he had been charging loose upon the battlefield.

"Lloyd, look after Genis," Raine said just as she gave a sigh. Lloyd nodded as both he and Genis went closer to the monster mob. Raine took Colette to an area just at the outskirts of the village where it was safer. There, the half-elf looked at the former Chosen's wounds.

"I'm always being a burden to everyone, especially when I can't use my angel powers in front of so many people..."

"Colette," Raine started just as she started gathering mana for her healing spell. "No one thinks that you're a burden, not one of us, and especially not Lloyd."

"All of you are always worrying about me...I'm sorry..."

Raine simply sighed. Colette will always apologise for every little thing. The half-elf scholar guessed that was one thing about the former Chosen of Sylvarant that will never change.

Keele stopped firing just as he cleared every monster that was able to fly. Kratos too had cleared those that had tried to advance on them. Surveying the rest of the battlefield, Keele noticed that the other half-elves of the village who were taking the frontlines, and the rest of their companions, were now attempting to take down the stronger monsters. The rest of the half-elves of Serant had retreated back towards the village, seeing how Genis' magic was faring against the monsters. They decided that they didn't need that many mages as too many spells might hinder the other warriors, thus they had retreated. The elf then observed the positions of the remaining monsters. Noticing that they were scattered within the area of effect of his spell, the elven mage nodded to himself and knew that this was his chance.

"Kratos!" Keele called to the angel that had been shielding him all the while. The elf had told the seraph earlier about his plan thus Kratos knew that Keele would let him know when he would be using his spell. The summoner turned to acknowledge the elf. "If we can keep the monsters within the area they are in now, I can finish them off with my magic!"

Kratos nodded at Keele's signal. The elf then started gathering mana for his spell. The seraph sheathed his sword and turned back to the battlefield, scanning the area for Yuan. Upon spotting the blue-haired half-elf, Kratos shouted in his direction. "Yuan, we're going to paralyse the remaining monsters!"

Yuan, who heard Kratos, retreated back a bit and turned to look at the summoner. "You're always asking the impossible, you know that?"

Kratos raised his left hand outwards and started gathering mana. "But nothing is impossible for the both of us! Didn't you always say that?"

"Putting my words right back into my mouth..." Yuan grumbled as he stepped forward and shouted to everyone else. "Everyone, get behind me!"

"What?" Some of the half-elves of Serant said in surprise, turning to the blue-haired half-elf. Yuan's weapon was already sparking with electricity just as they turned, attempting to question him.

"If you do not want to get shocked, get behind me!" Yuan growled just as he prepared to attack.

Dias, roughly understanding what was going on when he saw Keele casting a spell, the twin blade signalled to all of them to obey. By then, Lloyd, Sheena and Genis had already retreated. The others reluctantly retreated also. Even if they didn't want to listen to the orders of an outsider, they would always obey their strongest warrior who was also like a leader to them.

"Thunder Wave!" Yuan declared as he swung his weapon in a forward arc, sending a wave of electricity towards the monsters. The attack swept through every single one of the monsters, shocking them, unable to move as if they were paralysed.

"I call upon the Hammer of Godly Lightning! I summon thee, Volt!" Kratos called as his summon was ready. The blue-colored summon crest appeared beneath his feet and Volt appeared in front of Yuan just as the half-elf was done with his attack. Volt, sparking with electricity, summoned a huge thunderstorm, raining lightning on the monsters. This, while doesn't help much in the way of damage, further enhances Yuan's attack, paralysing the monsters for a longer period of time.

Dias and the other half-elves of Serant stared at Volt's display with awe. The way the lightning was dancing around the monsters was simply breathtaking. Dias then realised something. _"Kratos is a summoner?"_

"Ancient powers, hear my call, lend me the ultimate power of the flames!" Keele's voice called through the battlefield just as his spell was almost complete. "Burning flames of hell, incinerate everything! Incineration Flare!"

A huge red-colored mana circle appeared beneath the paralysed monsters' feet. Giant balls of fire rained continuously on the monsters that were all trapped within the circle. Yuan quickly retreated as the spell's display continued. Kratos had recalled Volt as the summon spirit was no longer needed, then turned to watch the fire spell pummel the monsters. Everyone else were also watching the power of the elf's magic unfold before them. Finally, from what seemed like eternity to them, the balls of fire stopped appearing out of the sky. Then, one final explosion from the red circle, Keele's spell finally disappeared, leaving only the charred bodies of the defeated monsters, their mana slowly disappearing.

The mana which Keele used to cast his spell slowly disappeared as he lowered his hand. The other half-elves immediately rejoiced at their success of being able to protect their home once more. Genis was pretty impressed with the spell and almost immediately bombarded Keele with questions. By that time, Raine had finished healing Colette and the scholar joined her brother in the conversation. Colette joined Lloyd, who was currently together with Kratos and Yuan. Sheena was recalling her summoned Fire Guardian with Dias standing nearby. Then the two of them went to join Kratos, Yuan, Lloyd and Colette. They seemed to be talking to one another about something.

"Just what is the problem with you humans? We were the ones who fought off the monsters while you all cowered in fear!"

"You half-elves are the problem! It's because of your presence here in Serant, we're being attacked by monsters!"

"You can't blame us for that! The attacks only started recently!"

Everyone turned towards the direction where the quarrel was going on. The half-elves were quarrelling with a group of humans. They were throwing insults here and there, the humans blaming the half-elves for the monster attacks and the half-elves defending themselves from their remarks. Dias immediately went over to the aid of the half-elves, just in case any fighting broke out between the two races. Kratos was looking on with a worried expression on his face as he glanced between the quarrel and Yuan. Thankfully, the blue-haired half-elf wasn't showing any movement or whatsoever, but that didn't help ease the summoner's worry. Both Genis and Raine, who were on a journey that sought to help the humans understand half-elves wanted to intervene, but decided not to. At least not until they had more information on what was happening. Keele just looked on, shaking his head at the same time. Lloyd, Colette and Sheena looked on without as much of an expression on their faces.

"Dad, what's going on?" Lloyd asked, turning to face his father.

"I seriously do not know myself," Kratos replied, shaking his head. "But among the inhabitants here, the ever present discrimination between humans and half-elves exists."

"Shouldn't we do something about it?" Colette said. In her heart, it was somehow tearing her apart, seeing the quarrel. Being the former Chosen of Sylvarant and a strong believer in the Goddess Martel, although she knew that wasn't real, she still believed in those teachings, partly due to the fact she had been possessed by Martel once, no matter how brief the period of time was. It was Martel's wish for the people of Symphonia to live in harmony, and to love each other no matter the race.

"Dad, should we help?" Lloyd asked.

"I think Dias can handle this," Kratos replied after some thought. "Apparently, this isn't the first time he's handling something like this."

"Well, I hope that this will blow over soon," Sheena murmured.

Just then, violet-colored feathers fell from the sky, one floated into Colette's outstretched hands, the rest continued their descent towards the ground. Lloyd was looking at the feathers in confusion. Sheena decided to grab one from the air and observed it.

"Hey, ain't these mana feathers?" The ninja said, after observing them for a few seconds.

"You're right, Sheena," Colette replied, turning the feather in her hand and looked at it also. "It's the same as my angel wings, only of a different color."

"Violet, mana feathers?" Kratos repeated as realisation suddenly dawned upon him. "Oh no..."

"Dad, is anything wrong?" Lloyd asked, clearly sensing the distress in his father's eyes and voice.

"I was careless, I let my guard down," Kratos snarled as he suddenly turned to look up at the sky, as if searching for something. "Those feathers belong to Yuan! We have to find him, now!"

But by the time Kratos had found him, the half-elf seraph was already hovering above the quarrelling group of humans and half-elves. "When will you humans ever stop hating half-elves, especially when they didn't do anything wrong to you in the first place?" Yuan roared, his voice stunning the quarrelling races. Every single human and half-elf that were present, even Dias, turned to look up at the booming voice. It was a stunning sight. Yuan was hovering above them, crystal violet wings spread out, giving off an ethereal glow that seemed to be covering the half-elf with a violet aura. There, he glared angrily at the humans, where every single one had started taking slow steps backwards, retreating from the half-elves, as if fearing the angel floating above them.

_"What is this? An angel? Yuan's an angel? Just what is going on here?"_ Behind him, his half-elf brethren slowly started retreating also, as if fearing the angel's wrath.

The rest of the blue-haired angel's companions ran up to where Dias was. Kratos was gritting his teeth, fearing the worst might happen. The rest, although they knew Yuan was an angel, they weren't sure why he was acting like that.

"What is Yuan trying to do?" Keele asked as he turned to Kratos. "Kratos?"

"Damn," Kratos cursed as his mind raced, trying to think of what do about this. "I didn't count on him actually using his angel powers if something like this happened. I only hope that the humans will retreat quietly. If not..."

"If not...?" Keele asked, not taking his eyes of the summoner.

"I don't want to even think about it!" Kratos snapped as he took a step forward, calling out to the other seraph before he actually ended up hurting someone.

"Just what is going on?" Dias questioned as they turned to look at his elven brother and his companions. Not a single one of them looked the least surprised with Yuan being an angel. It was as if they already knew. "What's with Yuan being an angel?"

"That's not the only thing," Keele whispered softly. "Yuan was one of the former heroes of the Ancient Kharlan War, a seraph that was once part of Cruxis."

"It's not just Yuan too," Lloyd added, glancing between Kratos' cries and Yuan's unmoving actions. "My dad, he's an angel too, also one of the former heroes of the Ancient Kharlan War..."

"Dad?" Dias questioned with a bewildered look on his face.

"That would be Kratos," Keele offered.

Dias slowly let all of that sink in. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. This revelation came as quite a shock to the half-elven swordsman. And yet at the same time, his heart told him that they were both good people. But before he could think about it further, one of the humans started screaming at the half-elves again, ignoring and unafraid of the floating angel.

"You dirty half-elves! Hiding a half-elf angel among yourselves in order to use him against us!" Every single human all nodded in agreement and started insulting the half-elves again, and they continued defending themselves with words.

This time, Yuan didn't even say a single word. Instead, the angel started gathering angelic mana, white feathers swirling all around him as he recited something in angelic.

Colette's angelic hearing picked up on those words. Worried, the former Chosen turned to look at Kratos. "Kratos! That incantation!"

"I know, Colette!" Kratos growled. With his own angelic hearing, the summoner had already picked up on the incantation himself. Frustrated at not being able to do anything, he raised both his hands and started gathering mana himself.

"What's Yuan casting?" Genis asked, finally saying something in a long while.

"Yuan's using Judgment! He's going to...!" Colette replied, slightly panicking. She wanted to fly up to the seraph and try to stop him, but if she tried, it was probably going to be a futile attempt.

"What?" Lloyd said, shocked. "We have to stop him!"

"Sacred powers, cast your purifying light upon these corrupt souls!" Yuan cried just as he stretched his right hand out, feathers still swirling around him. The humans, upon hearing that, immediately stopped yelling at the half-elves and turned to look up at the floating angel. They realised that the violet winged angel was going to attack them and started panicking.

"No! Yuan, please stop!" Colette screamed. But her call fell into deaf ears. The others too continued to look on, unable to do anything about it.

"The one which watches over us, and understands the hearts of all that is living," Kratos called as he threw his right hand out and the blue-colored summoning crest appeared below him. "I summon thee, Verius!"

"Receive the Light of Judgment! Judgment!" Yuan declared. Huge bolts of light started falling from the skies around the humans. Dumbstruck, the humans did nothing to evade the attack. Just at the same time, Verius appeared in front of the humans and summoned a shield all around them, completely blocking out Yuan's angel spell. Not satisfied, Yuan started attacking with Angel Feathers, his violet-colored feathers slamming against the shield belonging to the Summon Spirit of Heart, in an attempt to weaken it.

At that point, Lloyd joined Colette at attempting to call the half-elf angel back to his senses. Kratos closed his eyes and tried to shut out the pain Yuan was feeling. The summoner had felt it earlier just before Yuan had started casting Judgment, and now that he had summoned Verius, the pain that he felt was greater than before.

_"I knew his wounds from the past never completely faded, and right now, they are threatening to reopen! I have to...!"_ With every ounce of will power he could muster, the seraph finally called out his blue wings and charged into the sky, smashing into Yuan and drawing him into his embrace. Yuan immediately snapped out of his rage, regained his senses and ceased his attacks, violet feathers scattering to the ground, mixing with Kratos' blue ones.

"Kr-Kratos...I---" Yuan started. But before the half-elf could say anymore, Yuan fainted in Kratos' embrace, head resting on his best friend's shoulder, his wings disappearing from sight, leaving scattered violet feathers floating to the ground. Shifting the half-elf in his arms into a better position, holding Yuan's back with one of his arms and his legs in the other, Kratos turned and glared at the humans of Serant. Verius had returned to Kratos' side, standing just below the floating angel and too, turned to stare at the humans. The humans were retreating once again at the sight of another angel, fear clearly showing in their eyes.

If glares could kill, the death glare Kratos gave the humans of Serant probably did. His crystal blue wings emitted a soft blue glow, surrounding the summoner with a blue-colored aura, still regarding them with an intensity so fierce that they would have probably dropped dead by now. "What are all of you still standing there for?" Kratos finally snarled, voice so venomous that the humans dared not say a single word. "Get out of my sight, now!"

With that, the humans started running back to their homes with their tails behind their backs. The half-elves of Serant, although fully aware that both angels were in their defense, too freaked out and returned to their homes, leaving Dias and the rest of them back there.

Kratos slowly floated back onto the ground. Just as he touched down, Kratos recalled his wings, leaving a trail of blue feathers in his wake. Both he and Verius turned to face the others, where they were relieved that no one was hurt in the end.

"I'm sorry you all had to see that," Kratos said softly, staring at the sleeping half-elf in his arms. "Yuan is extremely sensitive to discrimination between humans and half-elves. If you think about it, it's amazing how he's my best friend."

"It's related to Martel's death, wasn't it?" Colette asked softly.

Kratos nodded. "You've seen Martel's memories briefly, have you not, Colette?"

"Yes..."

"Then you will know how much she meant to Yuan. Sometimes, I really wonder...who had mourned for their loss for a longer period of time. Me or Yuan?"

"Dad---"

"Lloyd," Kratos replied, stopping what his son wanted to say. "The only reason I've stopped hurting was because you were still alive. Yuan was different. Perhaps he had never stopped hurting, no matter how much of a strong front he seems to put up, even after so long."

Lloyd hung his head in the air and decided not to say anything else. Everyone else too kept quiet. There were probably a lot more things they didn't know about the two seraphim, and they didn't want to risk reopening old wounds just because they accidentally said the wrong words.

Kratos finally turned to address Dias. "Dias, is it okay if we stay at your place a bit longer? We will leave here as soon as we can. After what happened, I think our presence here might just make the problems in this village worse..."

Dias shook his head at that. "Screw those humans. Who cares what they think? The only thing that matters is that you guys ain't evil. It's good enough for me. Stay as long as you need to. I can handle them."

"Thank you..." Kratos whispered has he made his way back to the twin blade's home, carrying a still sleeping Yuan in his arms.

Everyone else were about to follow the summoner when another voice, not so familiar to them and yet familiar at the same time, spoke. "The pact-maker is hurt. His heart is in pain."

They turned to address the voice. It was then they realised that Verius was still present. It was the Summon Spirit of Heart that had spoken.

"Cor--- uhh, I mean, Verius!" Sheena quickly corrected herself. "What do you mean?"

"When one is in pain, the other feels it. That is the extent of their bond as friends. Lloyd Irving Aurion, when you were in pain, he feels it. Were you able to feel his pain just now?"

Lloyd stared at the summon spirit for a while. Thinking back at the events that happened not too long ago, he had noticed the distress and worry his father had shown. At the same time, when he was threatening the humans to leave, he had felt another pain and sadness too. He was unable to describe it himself, but he certainly felt it, even though it was not his heart that hurt. After thinking for a full minute, the Eternal Swordsman finally nodded.

"That is your bond as father and son," Verius replied. "He protects those that are dear to him with an intensity as fierce as the strongest flame. He doesn't like to see anyone of them in pain. When they are in pain, he feels it too. Although at one point he had fallen, he still managed to stand back up, and when he found out that you were alive, the flame that burns so brightly was re-lit."

"Verius..."

"I'm sorry, I think I'm boring you with my words," Verius apologised. "I shall take my leave now." With that, the Summon Spirit of Heart disappeared in a swirl of pink mana.

That left the others, especially Lloyd, something to think about. The two seraphim's true nature seemed to be hard to grasp and comprehend at the same time. For people whom had lived that long and seen so much, there were a lot of things to consider. Perhaps none of them would ever fully understand the both of them, for the two had been friends for so long, that only the two of them truly understood each other.

"Argh!" Lloyd yelled out in frustration. "This is all to complicated! I'm going back to Dias' house!"

"Wow, Lloyd! You managed to use a difficult word like complicated correctly!" Genis complemented.

"Genis, shut it..." Lloyd muttered and started walking away.

OoOoOoO

"Is he going to be fine?"

Everyone were back at Dias' house and explained what had happened out there to Selena. After putting Yuan into one of the guest rooms, the summoner had given the half-elf a look over to make sure he was fine. Raine dared not intervene especially since Yuan was a close friend of Kratos. It was also partly due to the fact that she was still avoiding the angel and didn't want to end up speaking to him. Whereas both she and Genis waited by the sofas for him to come out of the room, reading a book at the same time, the rest were busy at certain parts of the house, playing with the children and helping out with some things. Both Dias and Keele were waiting outside just as Kratos came out of the room and closed it softly behind him.

"He's going to be okay," Kratos replied, sighing. The pain which he had felt earlier still lingered but was slowly disappearing. "He just used too much of his angelic power at once and fainted from exhaustion."

"That's good," Dias murmured. "To tell you the truth, I was quite surprised after finding out that you were angels."

"Are you sure it's okay for us to stay here? We can leave as soon as possible, we need to continue our journey to save the Mana Tree anyway..." Kratos said, looking at Dias as if trying to read his thoughts.

"I already told you, screw those humans," Dias replied, crossing his arms and huffing. "Besides, I owe you guys my life. Stay here as long as you need to."

"But---"

"Kratos, let's just accept his offer," Keele said, interrupting Kratos' sentence. "Besides...I want to at least talk to Dias more before we leave..."

Kratos turned to look at the elf. The expression the mage wore on his face was that of a mix of sadness and happiness at the same time. Although Keele had finally found his brother, the elf knew that they would eventually be forced to part ways. They had their own lives to lead, things that they needed to do. Serant needed Dias. Keele couldn't be selfish and actually ask his half-brother to join them on their quest, could he?

"Alright, we will stay longer," Kratos finally replied, then turned to address Dias again. "But at least let us help you with unravelling the mystery behind the monster attacks."

"As you wish," Dias said, motioning the both of them to the table near the kitchen. Human, elf and half-elf all made their way to the table and sat down. After giving out a huge sigh, Dias began explaining what happened. "It started about two months ago. Before then, the monsters had never attacked the people that lived here. Only when anyone dared thread the forest which they inhabited did they attack. No one went near the forest because if this. But about two months ago, they came out of the forest and started attacking the village. It wasn't just one or two monsters either. It was always a group of them, a group consisting of different monsters that resided in the forest."

"How did you know they came from the forest?" Kratos asked, crossing his arms as he listened.

"I trained in that forest ever since I began to learn how to fight," Dias replied. "I know that forest and the monsters that live there like the back of my hand."

"It is pretty strange behaviour, for a group of monsters that had never attacked anyone beyond its home..." Keele mused.

"It's because of the monster attacks that the discrimination in this village got worse," Dias replied, with a tone of sadness in his voice. "Although, even before all these began, discrimination was already present among some of the adult humans that lived here. But at that time, not all humans hated the half-elves that lived here, only about half of the human population here at Serant. Those that didn't, their children had always been allowed to play with the children here, ignoring the warnings and threats that the discriminative ones brought." Dias then paused for a few seconds to collect his thoughts. "Then, when the monster attacks started, the humans started blaming the half-elves for it, saying that it was our presence that caused all these. And now, they all hate us." Then turning to look at the children that were playing with Kratos' and Keele's companions, Dias shook his head. "If you ask me, the children are the ones that are suffering the most right now."

"Why do you say that?" Kratos asked with curiosity.

"The children that lives in this house, they're actually all orphans. They lost their parents during the first monster attack. And on top of that, because some of these children were good friends with the human children that lived here, and they are depressed from both the loss of their parents and friends," Dias replied as he turned back to look at Kratos. "As you already know, we half-elves were the only ones that fought against the monsters while the humans ran and hid in their homes. Even Selena's father was also one of the victims to the monster attacks. This house actually belongs to Selena and her father. He was the most respected half-elf that had lived here. When these children lost their parents, he was the one who took them in, until he was lost during one of the more recent monster attacks."

"How come you live here?" Keele asked, eyes blinking.

"Selena's father took my mother and I in when no one else would. Even after she passed away from illness, he continued to look after me like I was his own son. I owe my life to him. If it weren't for him, I don't even know whether I would still be alive to even see you again, Keele..."

With that said, there was suddenly a silence between the two brothers. Kratos wasn't paying much attention to their silence. Instead, the summoner was pondering on something. Something that he had remembered reading from a book once when he was just learning about plants. In order to confirm it, Kratos called Verius and the Summon Spirit of Heart appeared before them. Keele was wondering why the angel had called upon the kyubi and thus, turned his attention to the summoner. Dias too, did the same thing, wondering what Kratos was up to.

"Verius, I remember reading that plant-type monsters are quite sensitive to changes in plants. Is that true?"

"Yes," Verius replied, brushing his tails to the side to make more room. "Plant-type monsters are indeed sensitive to changes in plants. If a plant was sick or hurt, they would know and will try to help it, to make it better."

"Then..." Kratos continued thoughtfully. "Could it be possible that the monsters sensed the tainting of the Giant Tree, and the monsters, knowing that there were discrimination present in this village, decided to attack here?"

"It is a possibility," Verius replied, figuring out what Kratos might be onto. "But the way the monsters attacked, makes it highly impossible that they had acted on their own. Different types of plant monsters, attacking in a large group, isn't an action that the low intelligence monsters are able to take on their own. Only a creature of a much higher intelligence could do that. A creature that is capable of speech and thought. Something like a demon, a monster that had evolved, or a human being."

"But what does the discrimination have to do with Giant Tree?" Dias asked.

"Dias," Kratos started as he turned to address the half-elf. "You know that during the Ancient Kharlan War, the Mana Tree died, right?"

"Yes," Dias replied, nodding. "But wasn't that caused by the creation of magitechnology and the excessive mana the machines used?"

"That was one of the reasons," Kratos replied as he turned to look at the ceiling. "But the discrimination between humans and half-elves also contributed to its death. I, for one, knew that all too well. Being one of the former heroes of the Ancient War, I knew first hand everything that had happened."

"But I don't understand how discrimination also contributed to is death?"

"Dias," Keele started, turning to stare at the table. "The Giant Tree needs love and care in order to grow and flourish. If it is not loved by the people that lives on this land, then it would also wither and die. The tree loves all of us, and we need to return that love in order for it to remain strong. Because the tree loves every being that lives on this land, the humans and half-elves, by hating each other, it is similar to hating the tree, thus the tree gets affected by it."

"I see..." Dias replied, nodding in understand just as Keele looked up from the table.

"But Verius, according to what you said, it means that a creature of a much higher intelligence might have instigated the monsters to attack Serant?" Kratos asked, confirming what he had heard was correct.

"Yes," Verius replied, nodding at the same time. "But in this case, unless it's a human being that possesses a special ability to communicate with monsters, it is most likely done by the hands of a demon or an evolved monster."

"Thank you for your help, Verius," Kratos replied. Verius nodded in reply and disappeared in a swirl of pink mana.

"So, what does all these mean?" Keele asked as he turned and tried to read Kratos' thoughts.

"We'll need to investigate the forest. It might hold some answers," Kratos replied. Then he turned to look at Dias once more. "You haven't visited the forest recently?"

"No," Dias replied, shaking his head. "Because of the monster attacks, I had to be near Serant at all times. Haven't visited it in more than two months."

"Then..." Kratos continued as he stood up. "...do you think you can bring me there?"

"Of course," Dias replied, standing up also.

"Then, what about the rest of us?" Keele asked, turning to look at the summoner.

"I need the rest of you to stay here just in case the monsters attack again," Kratos replied, brushing his hair aside. Then he turned and regarded the elf with a serious expression on his face. "Please look after Yuan for me. If anything happens, have Lloyd get Noishe to find me."

"Don't worry, I will," Keele replied, nodding in understanding.

Both Kratos and Dias made their way to the door. Lloyd, noticing that his biological father was going out of the house, the swordsman sprinted up to him. "Dad! Where are you going?"

"I'm going out to investigate something with Dias," Kratos replied, turning to acknowledge his son.

"Can I come too?"

"No," Kratos replied, shaking his head. "I need the rest of you to protect the village while we're away."

"Okay, just leave it to us!" Lloyd replied cheerily and went back to playing with the children.

"Let's go, we should do this quickly so that we'll be back by nightfall," Kratos said as he went out the door.

"Yeah," Dias replied in agreement, closing the door behind him after he stepped out.

OoOoOoO

The forest was thick with trees. The leaves and branches of the trees were all spread out evenly, forming the canopy of the forest, and yet an abundance of sunlight still made it through, just enough for the smaller plants to grow. Several forest animals ran about in the forest hunting for food, but scurried away the moment they saw a pair of two-legged beings wandering into it.

"So, this is the forest, huh?"

"Yes," Dias replied as he took in scents of the forest that he was so familiar with. He had trained in this forest since he was around twenty years of age. There wasn't a single thing he didn't know about this forest. It was like a second home to the half-elf.

"This is a nice forest," Kratos commented as he examined one of the trees. Being an expert on plants, the summoner was able to tell the condition of a plant just by examining it. Glancing around and taking notes of the structure of the place, he knew this was also a good place to hone one's skill. It was also a good place to train one's speed for battle. Kratos could now see why the half-elven twin blade was so quick on his feet.

"I know some creatures that live in this forest that might be able to help us," Dias said just as he leapt up a tree and looked around, spying for monsters. After glancing around for a few seconds, the half-elf jumped off the tree. "This way."

Kratos followed Dias quickly and swiftly. The summoner matched the twin blade's footsteps perfectly, never gaining nor losing ground. Dias would occasionally jump up onto a tree and looked around for a few seconds before jumping down and continued walking. Just by looking at that, Kratos was pretty amazed that Dias had learned all that by himself. Normally, this kind of speed and stealth needed teaching and special training, but the half-elf before him had taught himself all that. His swiftness made him a perfect ninja or even an assassin. Someone like him would probably benefit the people of Mizuho a lot.

But after moving around for almost an hour, give or take a few minutes, Dias stopped. Crossing his arms, the twin blade started frowning to himself, as if thinking of something. Kratos hadn't really noticed which direction they took or where they had went, but his instincts told him that they had been walking around in circles for quite a while. And by looking at the plants around him, Kratos confirmed to himself that they indeed _had_ been walking around in circles. The location and the type of plants at certain spots were exactly as he had remembered them.

"What's wrong?" Kratos asked Dias just as the summoner stopped beside him. Kratos did not want to point out to the half-elf that they had been walking around in circles. Dias probably already knew, that was why he had stopped in the first place.

"I'm not sure, but..." Dias replied and started scratching his head. "...the place I'm looking for was supposed to be around here, but it doesn't seem to be here anymore."

"What exactly are you looking for?" Kratos asked with a questioning look in his eyes.

"There was supposed to be a clearing around here where there were no trees growing, only flowers and grass," Dias replied, still frowning and wondering what was wrong. "Wait here for a bit, I'm going to take a look around quickly."

Kratos nodded in reply and the half-elf took off into the trees swiftly, disappearing among them within a few seconds. Sighing to himself, it was then he heard that his PortNav was beeping softly. Wondering what it was about, Kratos took it out and flipped it open. He had somehow left the radar function turned on since the last time he used it, and now it was detecting a mana signature that seemed to be coming from beyond the forest. Closing his eyes and concentrating for a bit, the summoner felt a faint concentration of fire mana coming from that direction.

_"Fire mana? Could that be Efreet?"_ Kratos wondered to himself. He could not just go off and check it out right now though. If it was indeed Efreet, he would have to confront the Summon Spirit of Fire by himself, not that it was a big deal since he had fought the summon spirits by himself in the past. But there were more important things to worry about right now. So he would just have to check it out later when he got the chance.

Making a mental note on the direction, Kratos closed his PortNav and slipped it back into his bag. It was also at that time Dias came back. At the same time, he sensed some sort of magic spell nearby. Leaping from the trees, Dias landed beside the summoner with the grace of an acrobat.

"I still can't find that place," Dias said, scratching his head once again, wondering what could be wrong. He was so sure that the clearing he was looking for was around here, despite not having been here for more than two months. The place couldn't have just disappeared into thin air, could it?

"I seem to be sensing a strong magic at work here," Kratos said suddenly, turning to look at the bewildered half-elf. "I can't pinpoint the direction, but it's pretty close."

"A strong magic?" Dias repeated, staring at the swordsman, wearing an even more bewildered expression on his face. "I can't sense any magic around here."

"Hmm? You can't sense it? That's strange," Kratos muttered, crossing his arms and frowned. "I'm sure I'm sensing some sort of magic spell around here. It's quite powerful, thus I'm unable to pinpoint the direction. But you, being a half-elf, are not sensing anything?"

"Yeah, I really can't sense any magic spell around here," Dias replied, very firm with his answer this time.

Now it was Kratos' turn to be confused. He could, as clear as day, sense a powerful magic spell that had been cast around here, and yet Dias, being a half-elf, a being that was able to sense the mana flow, mana signatures and magic couldn't sense it? But the summoner was unable to ponder on it any longer just as a flurry of leaves, as sharp as blades, came flying towards the both of them. Kratos backstepped to the right in order to avoid the attack. Dias backflipped quickly to the left, also completely avoiding the attack.

Just as the duo turned to look at who or what attacked them, they found themselves surrounded by three different plant-type monsters. They were Dryads, Mandrakes and Man-Eater Blossoms. There were at least one of each type of the three plant monsters present. Counting their odds of actually getting out of this unscathed and without a single injury was close to none, both human and half-elf drew their swords.

"Before we start," Kratos said as he got into battle stance. "Can you use magic?"

"Umm...no..." Dias answered sheepishly. He never had the privilege of having someone teaching him how to use magic, or rather, he was so bad at it that no one dared to even try to teach the half-elf. But still, even though he wasn't able to use magic, the twin blade was still able to combine elemental mana together with his attacks. "I'm a disaster with magic. But I still can draw mana and combine it with my attacks."

"I guess this won't be a quick battle for us then," Kratos replied, raising his hand and threw out a Fireball spell at a Dryad, then charged. The spell smashed into the Dryad just as it lashed out at the summoner, leaving it in a temporary daze. Kratos, who was charging, decided to summon his blue angel wings instead and with the speed of his dash, sped flew into the Dryad, slamming into it with his sword. Then flying backwards, the seraph launched Angel Feathers on the monster. Blue feathers assaulted the Dryad, slashing it without mercy. Then, throwing three more fireballs at it, the Dryad succumbed to the seraph's continuos barrage. Thankfully, there was only one Dryad among them, and with it out of the way, it would certainly make things easier for them.

Kratos then turned to the group of Mandrakes. A Mandrake looked like a walking root, with leaves sticking out of its head. It was also a relatively small, orange-brown-colored monster which could be hard to hit. Raising his left hand, Kratos commanded some fire mana into it and sent a spell towards the Mandrakes.

"Eruption!" The area below the Mandrakes turned red with fire. Fire erupted all around them, burning them to a crisp. Most of them fell from the might of Kratos' fire spell, but one of them survived it and threw itself at the angel. The blue-winged seraph reacted to it by tossing Angel Feathers at the lone Mandrake, but most of the feathers missed the monster since it was so small. One feather did hit it however, and that single feather knocked the Mandrake to the ground, killing it this time.

It was then Kratos turned and noticed where the rest of his Angel Feathers attack went. They just disappeared into thin air, literally. Normally the feathers either embedded themselves onto something before they stopped, or the one who executed the attack dissipates the mana feathers at their will. But the feathers had neither hit something nor had Kratos stopped the attack by his own will. They just disappeared. Kratos puzzled over this, however, he wasn't able to ponder on it for long. A Man-Eater Blossom, which was a monster that looked like a flower, but it was a man-eating type of plant that was able to walk. It had stopped and tried to attack the seraph, but just before the summoner made his move, the rest of his feathers from his angel skill came flying at the monster, killing it instantly.

"What the...?" Kratos mouthed in surprise. Just then, it dawned on him. The magic spell that he was sensing, it was a type of teleport protection spell that warped whom or whatever that went through it out at another spot, protecting the area that the caster did not want anyone seeing. One would not be able to know they just got transported to another spot. They would go through the spell as if nothing happened, appearing at another spot unknowingly. Only when a physical object went through it would one know that they had gone right through the spell. Frowning, it brought the seraph to another thought. He knew that there was a magic spell cast around here. And yet, he was the only one that could sense it. A half-elf like Dias wasn't able to sense the spell. There was only one possible explanation that the angel could come up with. That magic spell was cast by a demon, and him, being an angel, was able to sense it because only an angel could detect spells that were cast by a demon.

With that new found revelation, the floating angel turned to look at how Dias was fairing. He was fending off a couple of Man-Eating Blossoms. Combining fire mana with his attacks, the twin blade used a technique called "Fire Cross Slash" on the monsters, where the twin blade swung both of his swords in a cross like motion, creating a double slash that was in the shape of a cross. Just as the half-elf killed the two monsters, another tossed its leaf attack at the swordsman. Dias was barely able to dodge it, the leaves scraping the side of his left arm, cutting it. The half-elf was spared from any serious injuries thanks to his speed, which he was grateful to possess right now. Deciding not to waste anymore time with the monsters, Kratos flew to where Dias was.

"Dias!" Kratos called as he offered his right hand to the half-elf after sheathing the Last Fencer. "Take my hand!"

"Why?" Dias replied, surprised. The look he gave the flying angel literally demanded some answers.

"We're moving out of here!" Kratos replied, focusing angelic mana into his left hand. "I think I found the place you might be looking for!"

"No kidding!" Dias replied, sheathing his short swords and took Kratos' hand. The seraph hauled the half-elf up with his angelic strength, holding Dias by the chest with the twin blade's arms over his own. Then the angel, flapping his blue mana wings, charged past the attacks of the remaining monsters in flight, towards the place where his Angel Feathers attack had disappeared while muttering some words in angelic.

Just as Kratos was about to reach the boundary of the magic spell, the seraph thrust his left hand out, facing the barrier. "Sacred Powers, reveal that which is not seen before me! Sight!" Kratos' hand touched the barrier with his angelic magic, causing a ripple in the protection spell. Just for that moment, the barrier became visible and a hole appeared in it. Kratos, still carrying Dias, quickly flew through it. A few seconds later, the hole closed and the barrier became invisible again. But at least, the seraph had accomplished his task. They were now inside the barrier and the monsters were on the other side of it, unable to reach them.

"This is the plains that I was looking for!" Dias exclaimed just as Kratos put the half-elf down. In his excitement, the twin blade winced at the pain from the injury on his left arm.

"Here, let me heal that," Kratos said just as he landed and recalled his wings, leaving a few blue feathers floating to the ground. Focusing healing mana into both of his hands, the seraph held them over Dias' injured arm and used First Aid on it, quickly sealing the minor wound.

"Wow, thanks," Dias said just as he moved his arm up and down, not feeling any pain anymore. "But how did you know that this place was protected by some sort of a barrier?" The half-elven swordsman asked as he put his arm down.

"Remember the magic spell that I was sensing but you were unable to?" Kratos replied, crossing his arms on his chest. "The spell I sensed was actually this protection spell that was cast on this area."

"But how did you discover the spell?" Dias asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"It was purely accidental," the angel replied, chuckling slightly to himself. "One of my angel attacks mostly missed a monster I was fighting. The rest of the attack went through the barrier, came out of another spot and killed another instead. That was when I realised it."

"But..." Dias continued, tapping a finger on his chin in thought. "...how come you were able to sense the spell and I couldn't?"

"I suspect that it was cast by a demon," Kratos replied, arms still crossed, closing his eyes in thought. "And because I possessed angelic powers, my angelic self could sense it. Only an angel could sense a spell that was cast by a demon. It is the only possible conclusion, that's why you were unable to sense it."

"Then that means...?"

"A demon might be the one responsible for the monster attacks on Serant," Kratos replied, opening his eyes and regarded the twin blade seriously. "And it's trying to hide something here, something that it does not want us to see. Something which could tell the people of Serant the truth, the truth of what's really happening."

"Then..." Dias mused, tapping his finger on his chin once again in thought. "...it could be the creatures that I was looking for."

"What _were_ the creatures that you were looking for?" Kratos asked, uncrossing his arms, eyeing the half-elf in curiosity.

"It would be easier to just show them to you," Dias replied and started running off. "Follow me!"

Kratos started chasing the half-elf, and he was barely able to keep up. The angel was really impressed with Dias' speed, which made him wonder how come the twin blade was unable to handle a Dryad. If he had trained here his entire life, Dias should have been able to fend it off by himself, right? Or perhaps he was attacked by more than one monster at that time and got injured by the Dryad while trying to fend off the other monsters? There were just too many possibilities. Kratos decided not to ponder on it further. He could tell that Dias was a great warrior, capable of handling himself well, so he really shouldn't be questioning about such things.

Dias slowed down as they started approaching what appeared to be a bed of flowers. After reaching it, Dias completely stopped and started calling out some words, which seemed to be the names of something. Kratos confirmed that the half-elf was indeed calling out names just as he neared him and finally stopped beside the twin blade.

Just as heads started popping out, Kratos noticed how they looked like. They were human-shaped creatures about the size of a young child covered with green-colored leaves made to resemble clothes that people whom lived in the jungle wore. On their heads wore a flower of different colors which seemed to function as a hat, probably to differentiate themselves from each other. Kratos realised that these creatures were Nymphs, probably evolved Nymph monsters?

Just as the Nymphs laid their eyes on Kratos, they immediately went back into flowers, as if afraid of the swordsman. Dias, noticing this, asked them what was wrong.

"Scary person beside you, Sir Dias," one of the Nymphs muttered from the flowers.

"Scary person?" Dias repeated, turning to look at Kratos.

"_Excuse_ me for being scary looking," Kratos muttered sarcastically, turning to glare at the sky.

"Don't worry, he's my friend," Dias replied, trying to coax the Nymphs to come out again.

"But he scary looking friend!"

"Oh bother..." Dias muttered as he slapped his hand on his forehead. Then he turned to look at Kratos who had in-turn looked away from the sky and at the half-elf, rolling his eyes. "You think you can somehow make yourself look less scary?"

"How in the name of Origin am I supposed to do that?" Kratos sighed, rubbing his head with his right hand.

"I dunno..." Dias said, staring at the sky in wonderment. "Force yourself to smile?"

"I.don't.force.my.smiles." Kratos growled word for word, stopping at every single word he said, trying to get his point across.

"Okay, I get your point," Dias said nervously and turned back to the flower bed. "Guys, don't worry, my friend won't bite."

"No!" They yelled in unison.

Dias gave out a huge sigh, turned to look at Kratos again and noticed that the swordsman had his eyes closed. Then reaching to his chest and opening his eyes, Kratos summoned his blue angel wings and floated slightly off the ground. His wings glowed silently behind him, wrapping the seraph with an ethereal blue aura.

"Umm, Kratos?" Dias said in surprise.

"So, sue me. This is the best I can come up with," Kratos muttered and rolled his eyes again.

One of the Nymphs had decided to peek out of the flower bed to check whether the 'scary person' was gone. The Nymph gasped as it saw Kratos. He was floating, blue wings fluttering behind him. Then it decided to come closer to look at the angel. At that time, Dias had turned back to the flower bed in surprise. It actually worked!

The Nymph finally walked up to Dias and clung to his leg, looking at the half-elf with eyes that seemed to be shining. "Sir Dias, your scary friend is angel?"

Dias turned to look at Kratos who seemed to be looking highly annoyed right now. Then giving the seraph an apologetic look, he turned back to look at the Nymph that had came out. "Yes, Dysla. My friend is an angel."

"Is he going to save us from Baddie?"

Both human and half-elf turned to stare at each other from that comment. It was clear that the Nymphs knew something about what was happening, and that they would be able to get some answers from them.

Then, turning back to the Nymph, Dias nodded in reply. "Yes. He's going to save you from the Baddie."

"Really?" Dysla replied, eyes filled with hope.

"Yes, I will," Kratos said just as he landed on the ground with his wings still out, kneeling down before the Nymph. "If you tell me and Dias what is going on."

Dysla nodded and turned back to the flower bed, shouting to the other Nymphs. "Sir Dias' friend is angel and says he going to save us!"

The other Nymphs, upon hearing that, all started popping out and ran to where the duo were. As they all surrounded the both of them, Kratos noticed that there were six Nymphs in all. Apparently, Dias had noticed this too and started frowning. The seraph noticed this and wondered what was wrong.

"Where's Celoia?" Dias asked. Almost immediately, the faces of the six Nymphs fell, sadness clearly showing on their faces.

"Celoia injured. Got hurt when fighting Baddie..." Dysla replied in a soft and timid tone.

"Can I see Celoia?" Kratos asked, picking up the names of the Nymphs rather quickly. The Nymphs all nodded at once and ran off. Dias ran after them and Kratos flew just above them all in order to keep up with both Dias and the Nymphs easily. Kratos landed and recalled his wings just as Dias and the Nymphs stopped. Then peering into the tall grass, he saw the last Nymph lying there, with injuries all over the body. Celoia had a yellow flower on its head and was significantly larger than the other Nymphs, the angel noticed.

"What happened to Celoia?" Dias asked the others while Kratos knelt down to examine the injured Nymph.

"Baddie make other creatures attack village!"

"Baddie told them if they don't attack village, Giant Tree will die!"

"Giant Tree poisoned and hurt. Baddie said if want Giant Tree to get better, they must attack village!"

"But Giant Tree getting more sick instead! We tried to stop them, but won't listen! They blindly follow Baddie!"

"Baddie attack us and injured Celoia!"

"Then Baddie trap us in this place!"

"Baddie hurt Celoia! All Baddie's fault!" The six Nymphs cried at once.

Both Kratos and Dias turned to look at each other. It seemed like they had found their answer. Something had instigated the monsters to attack Serant. And that something was probably a demon. Turning back to the injured Nymph, Kratos concentrated hard, calling upon healing mana and the power of the faeries in order to heal Celoia. After he was done with his spell, Kratos turned to the half-elf standing beside him.

"We should get them out of here."

"Why?" Dias asked, questioning the angel's sudden decision.

"The caster of the protection spell probably already knows that its spell has been breached," Kratos replied, turning back to Celoia and used First Aid on the rest of the smaller wounds on the Nymph. "When a spell is breached, the one whom cast the spell would immediately sense it. In the case of this spell, it would know that someone had successfully entered the barrier and found out what it had hid here. If we leave by ourselves leaving the Nymphs here, they would be in danger."

"But how are we going to get out of here?" Dias asked, eyeing Kratos as he stood up. "That whatever spell you used only temporarily revealed the barrier and opened a way for us to get in."

"I can dispel the barrier," Kratos replied as he crossed his arms, thinking of something at the same time. "The reason that I didn't dispel it just now was to prevent the monsters from following us," the angel explained. "Also, the monsters, if they are being controlled by the lies of this demon, will most definitely be waiting outside of the barrier, waiting to take us down by feeding them with more lies."

"If the monsters are waiting to ambush us, how are we going to breakthrough?" Dias asked, frowning at the seraph at the same time.

"That's why we need a plan," Kratos replied, closing his eyes, trying to think of a way for them to get out safely. It would be difficult, but not impossible. If he played his moves right, they would be able to get out unscathed, without wasting time to kill all of the monsters that came after them.

After thinking for what it seemed like hours, Kratos finally nodded to himself and opened his eyes after about five minutes. During that time, Dias had watched over Celoia together with the other Nymphs, explaining to them what the light the angel had used on the larger Nymph was, and that Celoia will be fine after some rest.

Kratos raised his left hand with his palm facing the sky, focusing mana into it. "Servant of Mother Earth, Gnome!" The summoner called. Answering his pact-maker's call, Gnome appeared before the seraph in a swirl of brown-colored mana.

"Hey, sup?" Gnome asked, raising his stubby hand into the air as if saying hi.

"Gnome, I need your help to get the Nymphs out of here," Kratos replied, turning to face Dias and the Nymphs. The half-elf had stood up, carrying Celoia in his arms just as he sensed the Summon Spirit of Earth's presence. "Your power over the earth will make it easy to break through the monsters, block them and protect the Nymphs."

"If you say so," Gnome replied, nodding his head. Stretching out his hands, the summon spirit gestured to Dias to hand the Nymph in his arms over to him. "The rest of you, get on my back."

"Dias," Kratos continued as the half-elf helped the other Nymphs onto Gnome's head and back. Luckily, the Summon Spirit of Earth was was rather large and thus, there were enough room for the small sized Nymphs to climb on board. "After I dispel the barrier, the both of us will rush out and distract the enemies until Gnome finishes casting his spell. After Gnome's magic goes off, we will all make a break for it out of the forest as quickly as possible. If it's needed, I will continue to pave the way through the enemies while the rest of you continue moving until we make it out. After we're out of the forest, I will temporarily seal the enemies with my angelic magic, thus securing our escape route."

"Why not seal the enemies after the barrier is dispelled?" Dias questioned.

"This forest is their home," Kratos replied. "I expect the entire forest of monsters to be after us, if the enemy is desperate enough. If I seal them before we get out of the forest, other monsters will most likely come from other parts of the forest, trying to block our escape."

"I guess that makes sense," Dias replied, nodding and drawing his swords. "I'm ready whenever you are."

"So am I!" Gnome said, raising his free hand as a ready gesture. The Nymphs, although not too sure what was going on, just held tightly onto Gnome. But the one thing they did know was that both the half-elf and the angel were getting them out of here, away from the Baddie.

Drawing his blue wings, Kratos flew up into the sky. Raising both his arms into the sky, his palms facing it, the seraph called upon his angelic mana as he uttered a chant in angelic. "Sacred Powers, dispel the magic that is hidden, break all links that bind it! Flow Break!" Kratos declared, hands glowing with angelic magic, revealing the boundaries of the protection spell. After a few more seconds, the barrier glowed a brilliant blue, the same as the color of Kratos' wings, and shattered.

Just as Kratos had expected, there were a lot of monsters outside of the barrier. Besides the Mandrakes and Man-Eater Blossoms they did not finish fighting just now, there were now even more variety of monsters together with a few Dryads that had assembled. Among them are Floras, monsters that looked like flowers and were smaller than a Man-Eater Blossom, Willows, monsters that looked like tree stumps, only that they were hollow inside, their arms and legs shaped like roots. There were also Rafflesia, monsters that looked like a ball of grass, just like a walking bush, and Parasites, monsters that are shaped like that of a human being, larger than Nymphs, wrapped with vines and covered with leaves. The monsters were blocking the route out of the forest back to Serant in front of them, and behind them was a river and a path that lead deeper into the forest.

"Wow..." Dias whistled as he readied his twin short swords for battle. "Never seen so many of them in one place."

"You don't suppose there is another way out of the forest?" Kratos asked, still hovering about everyone else.

"Nope," Dias replied. Then he turned to the Nymphs that were holding onto Gnome. "Is your Baddie among them?"

"No!" Dysla squeaked. "Baddie has wings like devil!"

"I guess the true enemy is a demon afterall," Kratos said as he spread both of his arms out, summoning blue feathers all around him. Crystal clear, blue feathers circled all around the seraph as if they were trying to protect him. "Get ready!" Kratos cried to Dias and Gnome as he thrust his left arm out towards the monsters, commanding the summoned feathers away from him and towards the enemy group. "Feathers Assault!"

The feathers all crashed into the monsters that were taking the front. The attack managed to kill a few and knocked out quite a handful of them. Then drawing the Last Fencer, Kratos dived out of the sky and charged a group of Mandrakes. Just as the angel was within attacking range, he called fire mana onto his sword, swung the weapon downwards and slamming the ground, sending a wave of fire towards them.

"Flame Blade!"

The attack swept the Mandrakes, killing them almost instantly. By then, Dias had started rushing the enemies himself, blasting attack after attack. The half-elf danced together with the flow of his attacks, which aided the twin blade in dodging at the same time, preventing himself from getting hit. Dias had to fight at his best in order to make it out without getting seriously wounded again.

"Earth Grave!" Gnome finally declared, voice floating across the battlefield. Huge spikes came out from the earth in front of the monsters, attempting to block their advancement. At that point, Kratos fired a powerful Demon Fang Shockwave attack and shouted for everyone to run along the path which he had cleared.

Dias ran at full speed, with Gnome pounding behind the half-elf. The Nymphs all held on tightly to the dashing summon spirit. Gnome held Celoia tightly in his stubby arms as the largest Nymph was still unconscious. Kratos flew just above them, commanding Angel Feathers and his Fireball spell against any stray monster that had managed to avoid the still active Earth Grave spell.

"We're almost there!" Dias shouted just as the exit came within his sight. At the same time, Gnome's spell slowly started to disappear.

Just then, a vine appeared, slamming into the twin blade before he could reach the exit. Veering back, Kratos had managed to avoid the vine. Gnome then raised his shovel, smacking the vine back, as if the spirit was playing baseball. Dias landed quite a distance behind the both of them however, and Kratos looked up to find that a small group of Mandrakes and a Parasite had blocked their path.

Not wasting any time, the seraph raised the Last Fencer, calling forth an energy onto the weapon. Then swinging to downwards, Kratos released the energy towards the monsters, stirring the very winds around the attack as it fiercely cut through the monsters. "Demon Fang Shockwave!" The monsters, blasted by the ferocity of the attack, were immediately knocked unconscious.

"Gnome, go!" Kratos yelled to the summon spirit. Obeying the command from his pact-maker, Gnome ran the rest of the way out of the forest, with the Nymphs on hand.

Then turning back to see if Dias was alright, Kratos noticed that the monsters that were behind them had almost caught up. Without wasting any time, the angel sheathed his sword and flew at top speed towards the twin blade, extended his hand and yelled for the half-elf to grab on. After snatching Dias from the spot he had landed, the seraph turned around in just a split second and flew towards the exit, half-elven twin blade in tow. At the same time, Kratos called upon his angelic mana and chanted in angelic, preparing his spell in flight.

Just as Kratos made the flight out of the forest, the angel deposited the half-elf onto the ground quickly. Then turning back to face the forest, Kratos threw both of his hands out, releasing his spell. "Sacred Powers, bind that which I will, and block everything that is sealed within! Sacred Binding!"

Kratos' angel magic took form as it appeared. Casting a huge barrier around the forest, the monsters were all sealed within, unable to get out. The seraph then landed on the ground, recalling his wings and stood there, panting and feeling a bit tired.

"Kratos, are you alright?" Dias asked just as he saw that.

"Yeah," Kratos replied, taking in quick short breaths, willing his Cruxis Crystal to regenerate his body's mana at a faster rate. "I just used too much angelic power for my angel skills and spells, since that comes from the mana of my own body. It's different from using normal or healing magic as the mana mostly comes from the surroundings and minimally from the user's body."

"I see..." Dias said. Being a non-user of magic, he didn't quite understand how mana mainly works for casting magic. Then shrugging, the twin blade finally sheathed his short swords. "Well, as long as it's nothing serious."

"It isn't," Kratos replied as started breathing normally again. "My exsphere can regenerate it quickly enough."

"That's a relief," Dias replied as he turned to Gnome and the Nymphs. The small creatures quickly hopped off the summon spirit as Dias made his way towards Gnome and took Celoia from him.

"Are we safe now?"

"I hope so..."

"Yeah," Dias replied, nodding to the Nymphs. "I'll take you all to my house, then the Baddie won't be able to hurt you anymore."

"Really?"

"I promise," Dias said, nodding. "And we will all wait for Celoia to wake up there, then you can tell us more about the Baddie."

"We will!"

"Celoia is going to be fine!"

Kratos looked at the Nymphs rejoice for a bit before turning to look at the sky. "It's almost nightfall," the summoner said as he looked away from the sky. "We should get going."

"Yes, lets," Dias replied in agreement.

Kratos turned to Gnome and acknowledged the Summon Spirit of Earth. "Thanks for your help, Gnome."

"Anytime!" Gnome replied and disappeared in a swirl of brown mana.

Without wasting anymore time, the duo, with seven Nymphs in tow, quickly returned to Serant.

OoOoOoO

Lloyd was pacing left and right in anxiety. It was already nightfall but both Kratos and Dias weren't back yet. Everyone back at Selena's house had already taken their dinner, whatever food that remained were left for the human angel and the half-elf that hadn't return. Selena had already put the children to bed and turned in early while the others waited around the sofas. Raine was reading a book while both Genis and Sheena had fallen asleep while waiting. In the end, Raine fell asleep from waiting too. Colette watched Lloyd as the dual swordsman paced, worry written all over her face for both father and son. Keele was worried for his half-brother too, but did not show it like Lloyd did by pacing around.

Noishe whined when Lloyd passed the protozoan for the umpteenth time. Finally the Eternal Swordsman gave up pacing, and declared to no one in particular. "Argh! I'm going out to look for them! I'm sure Noishe can find my Dad quick enough!"

"I'll come too, Lloyd!" Colette said to the red-clad swordsman, clasping both her hands together.

"I'm coming too!" Keele said, standing up from where he was sitting.

"No one is going anywhere."

The three of them turned to the one who spoke. It was Yuan. The blue-haired half-elf had been sitting there, silent up until now. He had woken up about two hours ago, only to be informed that Kratos had gone out for a bit. The expression on his face was unreadable and Lloyd stared at him, as if trying to demand an answer from the seraph.

"You know I can't do that!" Lloyd snapped back at the half-elf which earned the dual swordsman a calm gaze from him. "I'm sure you're worried too! Kratos is your best friend, isn't he?"

Yuan contemplated what Lloyd had just said, still unmoving and not showing any emotion on his facial features. The angel merely gazed at the young swordsman, as if trying to tell him something. "Sure, of course I'm worried. But at the same time, I have faith in him. I've known Kratos much longer than you have, and I also know him better than you do. When Kratos starts fighting seriously, there is almost nothing that he couldn't beat. His power as an angel is almost unfathomable. He was almost as powerful as Mithos himself. The thing is, he doesn't like to use his angelic powers to that extent unless it was necessary. Besides, he has the power of the summon spirits. And unlike you, he isn't the type that would rush into things without thinking. You should learn to trust him more."

Lloyd was silent as he absorbed what Yuan had said. It was then the dual swordsman realised that Kratos could have defeated them all easily when they fought him at the Tower of Salvation. And if Kratos had used his angelic powers against him during that time when they fought each other back at Torent Forest before the Seal of Origin, Lloyd wouldn't have stood a chance. _I wanted to fight you as Kratos Aurion, the human, and not Kratos Aurion, the angel._ That was what his father had said to him when he asked the angel about it.

Leaving the dual swordsman to his thoughts he turned to Keele and regarded the elf seriously. He was obviously worried for Dias, his half-brother. But at least he had enough common sense not to rush out on his own.

"And Keele, Kratos won't let anything happen to Dias. I'm sure of it."

Keele simply nodded and decided to sit back down on the sofa. Colette continued to stare at Lloyd, wondering when he would budge. Finally, Lloyd decided to just sit down beside Noishe and started stroking the protozoan. Yuan turned to stare at the ceiling, wondering whether to try and contact Kratos via telepathy, but decided against it in the end. It took quite a fair amount of angelic power to do that, and the half-elf most certainly did not want Kratos coming back here with him knocked out again. With the discrimination that was present in this village, the summoner was already worried enough as it is, always having to snap him out of his rage whenever the half-elf went berserk.

Just as Lloyd wondered whether he should go out and wait or just stay indoors, a loud knock was heard from the door. Almost immediately, Lloyd shot up from where he was sitting and ran for the door, with Noishe following behind him. Opening it, Lloyd saw Kratos at the door and immediately drew the angel into a hug and Noishe started licking the summoner's free hand.

"Ugh! Lloyd! Noishe!" Kratos managed to gasp out from the strength of his son's hug.

"Dad! I was so worried!" Lloyd cried out in relief just as the red-clad swordsman released his biological father from his hug. Noishe stopped licking the seraph's hand and gave a low whine.

"I told you to have more faith in him," Yuan muttered as he walked up to both father and son, Keele following closely behind. The elf poked his head out of the door to look for Dias and spied the half-elf behind him, carrying something in his arms. Several other smaller figures were hiding behind the twin blade, and Keele noticed that they were about the size of a child.

"You alright?" Kratos asked as he turned to acknowledge Yuan's presence.

"Yeah," Yuan replied, shifting the lock of his blue hair out of his eye. "You're always snapping me out of my blind rage, preventing me from accidentally killing anyone..."

"Hey, that's what friends are for, right?" Kratos replied, placing a comforting hand on Yuan's shoulder. The half-elf returned the gesture with a nod.

"Dad, did you and Dias find anything?" Lloyd asked as Kratos removed his hand from Yuan's shoulder.

"Yes," Kratos replied as he stepped to one side of the doorway, revealing Dias and the child sized creatures that were with the twin blade behind him.

"What creatures are those?" Keele asked as he laid his eyes on the child sized creatures that wore leaves for clothing with a flower on their heads.

"They're Nymphs," Dias replied. "They're from the forest and had been my friends since I started training there when I was about twenty years of age."

"And they know something?" Lloyd asked, tilting his head sideways.

"We have sufficient proof from what they said," Kratos replied, crossing his arms. "It seems that it was done by the hands of a demon. We encountered a spell that was cast somewhere in the forest which hid the Nymphs from normal eyes. I was the only one that could sense it."

"But how did you know the spell was cast by a demon?" Keele asked, scratching his head in puzzlement.

"Simple," Yuan replied, moving that annoying lock of hair out of his eyes. "Dias couldn't sense the spell, right? Kratos was the only one who could sense it. Only an angel can sense magic that are cast by a demon."

"Oh."

"Somehow, from what the Nymphs had said, apparently this is related to the crisis that the Giant Mana Tree is facing," Kratos muttered.

"The tainting of the tree," Keele breathed.

Kratos simply nodded.

"But other creatures attack here only make tree more sick!" Dysla squeaked, as it realised that they were all talking about the Giant Tree.

"Whoa!" Lloyd exclaimed rather loudly, positively shocked. That tone would have waked everyone in the house up, but thankfully, no one stirred. "It talked!"

"These Nymphs are different from ordinary Nymphs," Dias explained, shifting the Nymph that he was holding in his arms. "They had evolved from normal Nymphs and are able to understand and speak the common tongue."

"Oh," Lloyd said, as if he understood. Then he started scratching his head. "Uhh...what is the meaning of evolve again?"

"Lloyd..." Kratos muttered, slapping his hand on his forehead. Yuan managed a huge sigh while both Keele and Dias stared at the red-clad swordsman in surprise. Noishe managed a low whine which seemed to sound like a sigh.

Lloyd stared at both angels and managed a nervous laugh. "Never mind..."

"So, the demon was the one who instigated the monsters of the forest to attack?" Keele asked, rubbing his head in confusion. "For what reason?"

"What's inn-sii-gate?" Lloyd asked out of the blue.

Kratos hanged his head in defeat. "Lloyd, it's ins-ti-gate, and it means to stir up or provoke."

"Oh, okay," Lloyd replied, managing a huge smile on his face.

"Now, as I was saying, the monsters think that by attacking this village, the taint on the Giant Tree would slowly disappear," Kratos explained. "But according to the Nymphs, it's getting worse instead."

"Discrimination," Yuan hissed, crossing his arms across his chest in anger. "The humans think that it's the presence of the half-elves that caused the monsters to attack. And discrimination was one of the reasons that the Kharlan Tree died in the first place."

"Wait...you know the reason Dias and I went to the forest?" Kratos questioned in surprise.

"Keele informed me of everything as soon as I was awake," Yuan replied, voice still hissing slightly.

"At least we now can strike the heart at its source," Dias commented. "The Nymphs know what we're looking for."

"When is Celoia going to wake up?" Dysla asked innocently.

Dias, not too sure how to answer, turned to the one who had healed the largest Nymph. "I'd say, the earliest would be tomorrow morning," Kratos replied, placing his thumb and index finger over his mouth in thought. "That Nymph had received a bump to the head, which I can't heal, apart from the wounds it had suffered. It was mainly the reason it was knocked out for so long."

"I guess I should put them to bed or something," Dias replied. Keele gave way to his brother to enter, and the twin blade made his way to his room. Kratos stepped into the house after Dias, and closed the door behind him.

"There is nothing much we can do right now," Kratos muttered softly. "It is not wise to hunt for the enemy when it's nightfall."

Yuan nodded in agreement, finally calming down to his usual self. "I guess we should turn in too."

"I'm tired," Lloyd yawned, stretching his arms. "Noishe, let's go sleep." Noishe gave a low whine and followed the Eternal Swordsman back to the sofas. The arshis curled up together with the red-clad swordsman and the both of them promptly went to sleep.

Keele gave out a soft yawn and too, announced that he would turn in now. The elf went over to the sofas and laid on one of the mattresses that had been laid out on the floor and slowly started dozing off.

Yuan, who had been silent for a while, turned and regarded the human angel. "We left some food for the two of you. It's in the kitchen."

"Alright. We'll help ourselves then," Kratos replied and turned to look in the direction of the kitchen. "You should sleep soon. It's been a trying day for you."

"I beat it's the same for you," Yuan murmured softly.

"No big deal," Kratos replied, raising his right hand to symbol that it was no trouble at all. "Good night, Yuan."

"Yeah, you too," Yuan said softly, watching the summoner retreat towards the kitchen.

OoOoOoO

The light of the morning sun flooded the room. Slowly opening his eyes, Dias woke up to the glare of the mid morning sunlight. Sitting up sleepily on his bed, he turned to the soft giggles and whispers beside him. After staring at the figures there, the half-elf faintly registered that he had let the Nymphs sleep in his room last night. But what had pleased him the most was that Celoia was up and moving again. The others were fussing over the larger Nymph, checking to make sure that it was fine.

"Hey, guys," Dias muttered, trying to clear the sleepiness from his head.

"Sir Dias awake!" Dysla squeaked out happily. "Celoia awake! Now everyone awake!"

"Now calm down, Dysla," Celoia muttered, rubbing the head of the smaller Nymph.

"How are you feeling, Celoia?"

"Apart from the slight throbbing on my head, I'm feeling okay," Celoia said. "Whoever this angel friend of yours healed me of all wounds."

"Yeah, he saved my life too," Dias murmured as he got out of bed, got dressed quickly and put on his belt which held his twin short swords.

Celoia raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"I got injured pretty badly while fending off a small group of monsters from the forest," Dias replied, stretching his arms for a bit. "Was trying to protect some of the people I know here at the village."

"I'm...sorry for the trouble they've caused you..."

Dias turned to look at Celoia in surprise. Did it actually blame itself for the monsters' ignorance? "Celoia, it's neither you nor the rest of the Nymphs' fault. They simply refused to listen to your reason. But I find it strange though. Can't they feel that what they're doing is just making the tree's condition worse?"

"I think it's because the demon had fed them with too many lies that they would believe anything it said..." Celoia muttered softly.

"Well," Dias started as he stood up from his bed and started getting dressed. "If it is of any assurance to you, Kratos and the others, they're on a journey to save the Giant Tree."

"Really?" Celoia said, looking at Dias, its eyes filled with hope.

"Yeah," Dias replied, finally putting on his gloves and boots, and buckled his short swords onto his waist. "Maybe I'll---" Before the half-elf could finish his sentence, someone knocked on the door to his room. Dias quickly put on the pouch containing his throwing daggers, made his way to the door and opened it.

"Morning, Keele," Dias greeted as he saw that it was his half-brother on the other side of it.

"Morning, Dias," Keele replied, nodding. "Just checking whether you're awake already."

"Yeah," Dias replied, nodding. "So are the Nymphs."

"Ah, I see them," Keele replied, turning to look at the evolved creatures. Apart from the largest Nymph, the elf noticed that the others were hiding behind his brother. "Shy, aren't they?"

"Pretty much," Dias replied, shrugging.

"You must excuse them. They are a bit scared of human beings," Celoia added.

"Which explains the scary looking person thing," Dias giggled softly.

"Scary looking person?" Keele asked, tilting his head in puzzlement.

"Kratos," Dias replied, still giggling.

"You know, I can hear you from here," Kratos half-shouted and half-muttered from halfway across the hall.

"Whoa," Dias commented in surprise. "How---"

"Angels have enhanced hearing," Keele replied, shrugging.

"I guess he's still a bit sore from the scary person thing..." Dias said, scratching his head.

"Now come over here for breakfast before Lloyd finishes them all!" Kratos shouted back to the Silverlance brothers.

"Dad!" Lloyd protested. "I'm not going to eat everything up!"

"At the rate you're eating, you are," Kratos reprimanded. "And watch your manners!"

"Dad!"

"You are so unlike your father..." Yuan muttered, poking at his food and stuffing it into his mouth.

"Yuan! Not you too!"

"He's right, you know," Raine commented softly, finishing up the last of her breakfast.

"Professor Sage!" Lloyd protested once again.

Both Genis and Colette were giggling away at Lloyd's dismay. Yuan was shaking his head and Kratos simply sighed. When Lloyd turned to look at Sheena for approval, the ninja simply shrugged. Noishe decided to lick the dual swordsman's hand in comfort. The protozoan had long finished eating his share of the food and was just hanging around for any leftovers. Both Dias and Keele, followed by the Nymphs, walked up to where they were eating. Then glancing around the house, Dias noticed that Selena and the children were not around.

"Where's Selena and the children?" The twin blade asked.

"She took the children out for a walk," Yuan replied, putting the last of his food into his mouth.

"We have no idea what the Nymphs eat, so we didn't prepare anything for them," Kratos added, stuffing the rest of his breakfast into his mouth.

"It's okay. Just some form of fruit would satiate us," Celoia replied.

"Yeah! We eat fruits everyday!" Dysla cheered happily.

"I think there're supposed to be some fruits in the fridge," Dias said as he turned towards the kitchen. "I'll go get them."

"No," Kratos intervened, standing up from his chair. "I'll look for them. You should take your breakfast quickly otherwise you might not have a chance later."

"Why?" Dias asked in puzzlement.

"Kratos has a point there," Yuan said, turning to look up at the twin blade. "The enemy knows that its secret is out. It may strike before we do."

"I guess you're right," Dias nodded as he sat down in one of the empty chairs, Keele following suit, sitting down beside his older brother. The six younger Nymphs, understanding the situation that was happening right now, all rushed to Kratos' side, with Celoia behind them.

"Yay! Mr. Angel is going to get us some food!" The six of them cried happily.

Yuan nearly choked on his own breath the moment he heard that. "Mr...Angel...?" Yuan asked as he turned to look at the seraph.

"Don't ask," Kratos muttered. Yuan shrugged and started staring into nothingness, as if thinking of something. The angel turned and started making his way to the kitchen, seven Nymphs in tow.

Kratos stopped in front of the fridge as he reached the kitchen. Opening the door of the contraption, Kratos peered inside it and rummaged around for any sign of any type of fruits. The six younger Nymphs crowded around the angel excitedly, curious at seeing new things.

"You're the one that healed me, I presume?" Celoia asked, trying to make conversation with Kratos while he tried to locate the fruits in the seemingly large fridge.

"Yes," Kratos replied without looking away from what he was doing. "You seem to be the most intelligent and well-learned among the seven of you."

"Yes, I am," Celoia replied. "I am the most evolved and also the oldest among the seven of us."

"Yeah! Celoia very smart!" Dysla nodded in agreement.

"You seemed to be surrounded by a very special aura," Celoia commented to the angel. "It's like as if some sort of power is bonded to you, and that power itself is emitting that aura."

"You think so?" Kratos replied, still searching the fridge, unable to find the fruits.

"Yes. I can feel it. Also, I've felt this type of aura of power before, but the problem is, I don't remember what type of being also emitted that type of aura."

"Hmm?" Kratos said as he finally found the fruits and took them out from the fridge. "Ha! Finally found them."

"Yay! Mr. Angel found food for us!" The other six younger Nymphs cried out in excitement.

"Here you go," Kratos said as he turned around to look at the Nymphs, armed with fruits of all kinds. Each Nymph, after selecting the fruit which they wanted to consume, bit on their meal happily. Celoia, being the oldest, waited until the others had taken what they wanted before helping itself. Kratos then replaced the remaining fruits back into the fridge. The angel watched the creatures eat in silence. The seven of them finished their meal quickly, thanking the seraph after that for getting food for them.

"A very polite bunch, aren't you?"

"Yes, Sir Dias taught us some basic manners," Celoia replied, nodding quickly.

"Seems like you've known him for a long time," Kratos commented thoughtfully, pushing a lock of hair out of his right eye.

"Yes, I've known him for at least eighty years now," Celoia nodded.

"That's quite a long time," Kratos replied, nodding in mid thought. "Someone who's a friend with monsters, that's a rare sight."

"I guess so...ha ha," Celoia replied in amusement.

Kratos slowly turned towards the doorway once more, with the intention of going out of the kitchen. The Nymphs prepared to follow, but just as they were only about halfway out of the place, a frantic knock could be heard from the door. Wondering what was that about, Kratos quickly stepped out of the kitchen and peered at what was going on.

Both Dias and Keele had just finished their share of breakfast when the loud banging on the door was heard. Wondering what was the rush, Dias quickly made his way to the door to open it. Noishe gave a low whine of worry because the protozoan had a bad feeling. Lloyd stroked the oversized dog in comfort, sensing his distress. Colette was a bit worried too as she had a bad feeling herself. Kratos had told everyone else over breakfast what he and Dias had found out at the forest yesterday. Because of that, they were all prepared for the worst to happen in-case they were unable to strike at the enemy first.

When Dias opened the door to the house, a panicking Raides was seen on the other side of it. Almost out of breath and panting very fast, the half-elf tried to tell Dias something, but because of all his panting, the twin blade was unable to understand what Raides was trying to tell him.

"The monsters are---" Raides said in between breaths. "---attacking in large numbers!" Then taking in a few more gasps of air, Raides continued. "It's like the entire forest of them are attacking!"

"Looks like the enemy got to strike first," Kratos commented as he walked and stopped beside Dias. The seven Nymphs were following the seraph, hiding behind him as he stopped. "Well, it's not like as if we didn't expect it."

Raides turned to face Kratos as he spoke, realisation dawned upon him as he realised that he was the human angel that they saw yesterday. The half-elf took a few steps back, as if afraid of him. "T-The angel...!"

"Relax, Raides. He doesn't mean us any harm," Dias replied, trying to assure the half-elf that Kratos did not mean him nor any other of the townsfolk any harm.

"And neither did I."

Dias and Kratos turned to look at who had spoken. Yuan had decided to join the two of them at the door, trying to see what was happening between the three of them. When Raides saw and recognised Yuan, the half-elf backed off even further and continued to stare at both angels in fear, afraid to say or do anything else.

It was then Dysla, who had figured out what was going on, decided to collect all its courage, stepped out from behind Kratos and started yelling at Raides. "Mr. Angel not evil! Mr. Angel promised to save us from Baddie!" Then the other five smaller Nymphs too decided to stop hiding behind the seraph and all yelled in agreement.

"It seems like you won the rapport of the Nymphs," Yuan smirked with a teasing tone in his voice.

"I swear to Origin that if you do not wipe that smirk off your face, I'm going to kill you," Kratos growled, glaring daggers at Yuan. The blue-haired half-elf decided to step to one side such that Dias was between the two of them.

"Hey!" Dias protested as he realised that Yuan was trying to use him as a shield. Raides, seeing the "friendliness" between them, was suddenly not so afraid of the two angels anymore.

"Dad!" Lloyd cried out, immediately breaking Kratos out of his glare at Yuan. "Let's go get the real enemy!"

Kratos, silently swearing to Origin again, snapped out of it and quickly stepped out of the house. Everyone else, including Noishe and the Nymphs, followed suit.

"Guys," Dias started as he noticed the Nymphs following them. "You should stay behind."

"No, were coming too," Celoia replied, shaking its head. "The monsters' folly is our responsibility. Also, we're the only ones that recognise the demon responsible for all this."

"But..."

Kratos placed a hand on Dias' shoulder and shook his head as the twin blade turned to look at the angel. Then removing his hand from Dias' shoulder, he turned to address the Nymphs. "You can come, but stay with Noishe. He can bring you away from danger if needed."

Noishe gave a low whine as if trying to protest, but Lloyd placed a hand on the arshis and stroked him. "Noishe, Dad has entrusted you with a very important mission. You should do your best and accomplish it."

Noishe whined once more, but this time, the protozoan did not do it in protest. Then giving a bark, Noishe nodded his head.

"That's a good boy, Noishe."

"It looks like Noishe is becoming the brave protozoan I knew from the Kharlan War again," Kratos commented, nodding in approval. "I know I can count on you, buddy."

Noishe howled in happiness. With that said, everyone marched forward, hoping that this time, this matter would be solved for good.

OoOoOoO

The monsters marched forward as they approached the outskirts of Serant. The way they had moved made it seemed like they were participating in a parade. The half-elves of Serant all stood at ready, all prepared for battle. The human villagers, fearing for the safety of their home, were all scattered around the borders of Serant, watching the scene before them. Selena and the children had rushed back to Serant from their walk upon spotting the monsters. They too, were watching the scene from the borders of Serant.

Kratos, Yuan, Lloyd, Colette, Genis, Raine, Sheena, Keele, Dias and Raides all arrived at the scene just as the monsters stopped their march. Noishe and the Nymphs stopped behind the rest of them, the arshis whining every now and then to show his worry. Glancing at the monsters, they realised that they were indeed in huge numbers. It was as if every single monster from the forest was present. But this time, there wasn't any airborne monster present, save for one. Most of them were unable to see how the flying monster looked like. Colette wasn't paying attention of the monster that was flying. The former Chosen was more concerned about the large number of monsters. However, both Kratos and Yuan, using their angelic sight, were able to see how it looked like. It had black-colored wings that were similar to a devil. Its body was in a shade of brown, similar to the trunks of trees. In addition, its body, arms and legs were all wrapped up with vines which it could use to attack at will.

Both angels glanced at each other. They knew what monster that was. It was a plant demon called Vinethea. In fact, it couldn't even be considered a monster anymore. It was a demon class creature. But that really wasn't what concerned the two seraphim the most. It was the fact that this demon was not supposed to exist anymore. Vinetheas were a very rare type of demon. Because of Vinethea's manipulative power over plant-type monsters, it was easy for it to instigate plant monsters to attack human beings, especially during that time when the Giant Tree was dying. It was because of that, during the Kharlan War, the both of them, together with Mithos and Martel, sought them out and destroyed whatever that had remained of them, so that the plant monsters would not be manipulated into attacking the innocent. In fact, plant-type monsters very rarely attacked human beings. They normally only attacked when they thought that someone was threatening the place where they lived.

The Nymphs gasped as they noticed the plant demon when it swooped in at an incredible speed. Just as quickly as it had advanced, the Vinethea stopped, hovering above Noishe and the Nymphs. The six smaller Nymphs immediately screamed the word "Baddie" as they tried to take cover behind the huge protozoan. Celoia stood its ground and Noishe stood protectively over the Nymphs, growling fiercely at the plant demon.

"Well, well, so that's where you naughty little kids have run off to," Vinethea sneered.

"We are not your little children, you demon," Celoia hissed, glaring dangerously at the Vinethea.

"Tsk, tsk. You haven't blabbered to anyone about my little secret, have you?"

"Oh? That was supposed to be a secret?" Celoia replied, trying to sound innocent. "I had no idea."

"Why you!" Almost without warning, Vinethea swooped down to attack, but before it could reach the Nymph however, several fireballs smashed into the plant demon, sending it back into the air. Several more came flying at it, but Vinethea managed to dodge them.

"Noishe! Take the Nymphs and go!" Kratos ordered as both he and Yuan came in-between Vinethea and Celoia. The other Nymphs hiding behind the arshis hopped on the protozoan when Noishe whined for them to get on his back. After all six were on his back, Noishe dashed for Celoia and picked it up too, and quickly made his way to a less dangerous area near the borders of Serant.

"Tch. Doesn't matter," Vinethea sneered, smiling evilly to itself. "It's not important. As long as the objective is reached, it doesn't matter."

"We don't care what your plans are!" Most of the half-elves of Serant yelled at the plant demon. "We just want the monsters to stop attacking us and our home!"

"Your home?" Some of the humans started rebuking the half-elves' claims. "If you half-elves weren't here, then all these wouldn't have happened!"

"Why are you still blaming us for the attacks?" The half-elves shot back. "It's so blatantly clear that our presence weren't responsible for this!"

Kratos clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. Somehow, the humans had forgotten about the incident with the two angels yesterday. Dias wanted to stop the quarrel between the two races, but he had more important things to worry about right now. Even though the monsters weren't attacking at the moment, Vinethea might seize the opportunity when they were caught off guard to get the monsters to launch their attack on them. Apparently the others, with the exception of Kratos and Yuan, were thinking of the same thing and mainly watched the monsters for any sign of movement. Yuan didn't care either way. The angel was trying his best to shut out the quarrel among the two races for fear that he would go into a rage again.

While the quarrel was going on, Vinethea noticed that one human child seemed to have wandered away from the quarrelling humans. Sneering to itself, the plant demon flew silently towards the child with the intent of taking it hostage. However, it's actions didn't go unnoticed. Teez knew that human child and screamed for him to watch out.

"Carlos! Look out!" Teez screamed. Almost immediately, the human child turned around and saw the demon throwing his vines out towards him. Carlos' parents too had heard the scream and turned to look, fearing for the safety of their son. But it was too late for anyone to do anything to help the child. All everyone could do was watch in fear.

It seemed like Vinethea was going to have the human child in its grasp but something, or rather, someone, had come in-between the vines and Carlos. While trying to block out the quarrel between the humans and half-elves of Serant, the seraph had half of his attention on the demon, thus he was able to cut off Vinethea's attack with the use of his angelic powers. Yuan had, in a flurry of violent feathers, intercepted the plant demon's attack with Gungnir in flight. Tilting his weapon a little, the angel had managed to get Vinethea's vines to wrap around the blades of his polearm, effectively stopping the attack.

Carlos' parents couldn't believe their eyes at what they had just witnessed. His father, who had seen Yuan the day before and knew that he was a half-elf, and later discovered that he was also an angel, had saved his son. A half-elf had, without a second thought, saved the human child. The human adult was very confused over this act. Didn't the half-elf angel hate humans?

"Why did you save our child? Don't you hate humans?" Carlos' father, Kyle, found himself questioning the angel. Carlos was crying into his mother's arms and she was telling the child that it was going to be fine.

"I did once," Yuan found himself replying to the human's question. He didn't know why, but the half-elf felt that he had to. "But that was very long time ago. I hated them because a human had betrayed me and two of my close half-elf friends. I swore to never trust a human again. I had hated them to the core. But..." Yuan paused just as he called upon his angelic strength and spun his weapon, slicing Vinethea's vines into pieces. "...that was until I meant him. Even though I was being so hostile to him, a human, he didn't return the same treatment to me. One day, something had happened between us, and it was then I decided to at least give him my trust. I'm glad I did, cause he showed me many things, but most of all, he had understood the hearts of people. Not just humans, but elves and half-elves too. He had showed me that not all humans were the same, and that it was the same for half-elves too. He was my best friend then, and till now, he still is my best friend. I trusted him with my life, just as he trusted me with his. Our races had never mattered between the both of us. The important thing was we understood and trusted each other. Why do humans and half-elves hate each other? Because of their blood? Because of their abilities? The answer actually laid within the hearts of the two races. Afterall, it was easier to hate than to even try and understand."

Both humans and half-elves immediately stopped yelling at each other and turned to stare at the half-elf angel. Even Lloyd, Colette, Genis, Raine, Sheena and Dias turned to look at the seraph. Keele, who knew that the both of them were close friends since the day he met them, decided to keep a watch on the monsters. Kratos was relieved that the yelling between the humans and half-elves had ceased. But the blue-haired half-elf didn't have to tell them about their past, did he?

Lloyd knew that Yuan was talking about his father. That was one thing they had in common. Both their best friends were half-elves. But his friendship with Genis seemed weak when compared to the friendship between the two seraphim. In some ways, both he and his father were similar when it came to dealing with half-elves. It was the same for both Yuan and Genis. The two of them had, at first, hated humans. But, after understanding that not everyone was the same, instead, hated the discrimination that existed between humans and half-elves. The situation was very similar in a lot of ways, and yet, the bond was different. His father and Yuan's bond was stronger than both of them. Undoubtedly, Genis was probably thinking of the same thing.

But there was no doubt that whatever Yuan had said was slowly being absorbed by both the humans and half-elves of Serant. The speech seemed to have set them thinking and they had started whispering among themselves, as if discussing about it.

"Th-Thank you for s-saving my son..." Kyle started, stumbling slightly on the words. Yuan turned around and flew lower to the ground, facing the human. A few violent mana feathers floated down in front of Kyle as the seraph did that. Feeling the angel's presence, Kyle gathered all his courage and turned to look at Yuan straight into his eyes.

"It was my pleasure," Yuan replied, giving the human a quick smile. "Now, quickly get to safety!"

The human nodded and quickly lead his wife and son closer to Serant, where the rest of the humans were. The seraph turned and flew back into the sky, raising Gungnir and got ready to engage Vinethea.

"Now that was a corny story," the plant demon spat, disgusted at it. "You will pay for interfering with my plans, angel!"

"Interfering with what plans?" Yuan asked, pretending to look innocent.

"Don't play dumb! I will not forgive you for freeing the Nymphs and the event back at the forest!" Vinethea declared just as he started assaulting the angel with its vines. The vines were flailing everywhere in an attempt to catch the half-elf seraph. Yuan tried to dodge the vines in flight, but being not used to aerial battling, the half-elf couldn't control his flying very well and got caught in them.

Almost immediately, Yuan regretted not practicing on the use of his wings more often. The half-elf angel struggled to get himself free, but to no avail. The villagers gasped, wanting to help, but were powerless to do so. Afterall, they were a lot weaker when compared to the angel.

"Yuan!" Kratos cried as he sprang into action. Calling his blue mana wings in less than half a second, the summoner shot into the air towards the half-elf angel, leaving blue mana feathers in his wake. Then calling upon wind mana and forming it into a spell, Kratos threw it out towards his friend and the demon, hitting his intended target with his magic.

"Air Thrust!" Kratos declared. Blades of wind appeared in-between the half-elf angel and plant demon, slashing mercilessly at the vines, cutting Yuan free. The angel stumbled backwards in the air just as he regained his balance. Kratos stopped, hovering slightly in front of Yuan just as his best friend righted himself. Brandishing Gungnir, the violet-winged seraph readied to fight once again.

"What? Two angels?" Vinethea gasped in shock.

"That's right," Kratos replied, hovering but not making any move to draw his sword or attack. "I'm the one who discovered your little scheme back at the forest. Yuan has nothing to do with it. Besides, Yuan can never cast an angelic spell that powerful even if his life depended on it."

"Geez, thanks for the encouragement," Yuan muttered, floating closer to the human angel, stopping beside him.

"Ahahahaha! So, the human mentioned in your little corny story must be this angel, right?" Vinethea laughed. "Well, it doesn't matter! All the hate that had been sowed from the numerous squabbles by the denizens of Serant will be enough to bring all of you down!" Then the demon started flying backwards, without turning, back towards the waiting monsters. "Behold! The power which my master granted to me!" The plant demon stopped just as he was hovering above the monsters of the forest. Then gathering a dark power, something which Vinethea wasn't supposed to have, and used it to cast a demon magic. Then, spreading it out, a wave of demonic power appeared, spreading out and covered the monsters and Vinethea. After that, a dark glow appeared briefly, surrounding the plant demon and every single plant monster, and disappeared as quickly as it came.

"That power, is that a demon spell?" Yuan questioned just as the glow disappeared. "But what kind of demon magic is that?" But before he could get an answer, the monsters started attacking. Vinethea just stood back, hovering at the scene before it. Lloyd, Colette, Sheena and Dias got ready to attack, while Genis and Keele charged their spells. Raine quickly used Acuteness and Field Barrier on everyone, strengthening their battle prowess.

"You humans run and hide!" The half-elves of Serant yelled to the human villagers of Serant. "We'll take care of this!"

"We're not letting you half-elves do this while we run and hide!" The humans retorted. "This village is our home too! We should be fighting to protect it too! Besides, some of us here can fight! And I'm sure we can handle weapons better than you half-elves!"

"If that is what you humans want," the half-elves replied. "Those that can't fight, go and hide! Some of us need to protect the children!"

Yuan turned towards the denizens of Serant. The half-elf was glad that they were at least working together now. The angel watched as some of the humans and half-elves retreated with the children, getting to some place safer, while the others prepared to join the two seraphim's companions and Dias for battle. Perhaps Yuan's story had some effect afterall. But then, it was a true story. Although a lot of things had happened between the both of them during the time they were alive, but nothing had stopped both him and Kratos from being the best of friends. Not even during that time when both their plans to restore the two worlds were different. Afterall, their goals were the same.

"Kratos, let's join them quickly," Yuan said just as he turned to the human angel. Just then, he noticed the look on Kratos' face and his body's actions. It looked like the summoner was in pain. From what, the half-elf angel had no idea. "Kratos, what's wrong?" Yuan asked, his voice almost in a panic.

"That demon spell..." Kratos began, gritting his teeth. "It's a protection spell that uses hate to create...It used the hate that was created from the discord between the humans and half-elves of Serant from the times they had attacked. That Vinethea was bidding his time..."

"But, how do you know? Why are you in pain?" Yuan asked, still slightly in a panic. He didn't quite understand how come Kratos was able to feel the hate that was created from the very discrimination that he had so hated.

"Verius..." Kratos hissed through his teeth. This was the price of a high summoner possessing a pact with the Summon Spirit of Heart. Probably. But Verius was powerful. As Kratos had discovered on a few occasions, Verius' power had depended on his strength. Not the strength of his fighting abilities, but the strength which he was tested upon during the trial to form the pact with Verius. "I don't know, but Verius' power seemed to enable me to feel the true feelings of those that are living, especially when it's needed. Right now, I can sense the hate that was used to cast this spell. In other words...the demon used that hate to create a shield."

Yuan's face paled. "Isn't that a bit of a hassle? Are you sure you can fight?"

"As long as I don't call Verius, it will be okay..." Kratos replied, nodding. "But we need to know what the spell does and how it's protecting the monsters and the demon, or we might not be able to win this and be forced to retreat and abandon this village. Let's observe for a while."

Yuan nodded as both seraphim turned to the scene of battle. Sheena had enchanted as many people's weapons as she could with fire mana with her Fire Sylva Seal. But even then, it wasn't helping much against the monsters, despite the fact that they were weak against fire. Both Keele and Genis let loose their Explosion spells at the monsters, which did more damage, but it still wasn't enough to weaken the monsters significantly. Sheena continued to enchant fire element onto whomever was fighting the monsters up front, which included the villagers from Serant. Everyone single person were struggling against the monsters. They had realised by now, that whatever the demon had used on the monsters and itself, was shielding them and caused their attacks, even though it was their elemental weakness, to have little effect.

"It looks like the spell reduces the damage of all attacks and magic down to nothing," Yuan said, as he wondered what to do next. "Elemental weaknesses still have some effect though..."

"Which essentially means that Vinethea's tactic is to stall in a long drawn out battle, in order to wear down its opponents," Kratos added as he tried hard to shut out the hate he was feeling from the spell. It wasn't as fierce as it was initially, and the summoner wondered whether it had anything to do with Yuan's presence.

"But how is it possible that a Vinethea is still alive?" Yuan questioned. "Didn't we kill them all off during the Kharlan War?"

"The same could be said for the Murk Dragon," Kratos pointed out. "But for now, we must concentrate on the battle. From the way I see it, until we can find a way to break the spell, we can only attempt to strengthen our attack and magical potential in an attempt to reduce the monster numbers."

"Can't you dispel the magic with your Flow Break angelic spell?" Yuan asked, confused as to why Kratos would suggest that. Wouldn't it be faster to just use his angelic magic to break it?

"The spell is too strong," Kratos replied softly. "It was granted to Vinethea by a being more powerful than itself, and more powerful than even my own angelic power."

"So, for now, we can only fight and hope that a solution would reveal itself?" Yuan sighed, at a loss at what to do himself.

"I don't see any other alternative," Kratos replied, shaking his head. "Yuan, I'm going to use that song spell."

"Now that would be fun!" Yuan exclaimed. It looked like his eyes was almost glittering. "Haven't been powered up by it for a long time!"

"Right," Kratos replied, rolling his eyes. "This is going to be a long battle. I'm not even sure if we can defeat the monsters quick enough with the blessing from my angelic magic. If we can't, we might as well be fighting a losing battle."

"I know," Yuan replied softly. "We need to find a way to break the barrier fast..." And with that, Yuan flew towards the others, with the intent of aiding them until Kratos was able to use his spell successfully. The half-elf angel knew that it would take a while since it's a song type angelic magic. It would require the caster to sing a short song in angelic in addition to gathering angelic mana before the spell took effect. The power of the magic depended on the power of the song. And Kratos' song is a lot more powerful than Colette's Holy Song. So much more powerful that you can't compare the two. The difference was just that great.

"This is getting nowhere!" Lloyd complained. Even with Raine's support and Sheena fire seal spell, they were doing little damage to the enemies. The others, by now, had realised that too, but left with no choice, they still continued fighting. Those that were using magic were faring better in terms of damage, especially Keele and Genis, since the two of them are equipped with an exsphere each. But even then, they had only managed to defeat a few monsters.

"Even though they're using fire magic, it's not working very well on the monsters," Colette muttered softly. "Isn't fire their weakness?"

"Now that's one thing I know for sure," Lloyd replied, slashing at a Mandrake, then retreating backwards together with Colette. Lloyd, although was rash by nature, dared not make any hasty moves in the battle, especially since the damage he's doing was very minimal. He knew it would only tire himself out faster if he made any hasty attacks. Experience during the Regeneration Journey more than five years ago had thought him that. For now, the Eternal Swordsman was going to observe the situation for a while, trying to conserve his energy. Colette was just following him for the time being. Luckily, most of the monsters were not paying attention to the both of them, thus giving the red-clad swordsman time to think. "Could it be because of whatever the demon used on the monsters that's making our attacks ineffective?"

"Lloyd! Colette!"

Both swordsman and former Chosen turned towards the sound of their names being called and realised that it was Yuan. The half-elf angel was flying towards them leaving a small trail of violet mana feathers behind him. Then finally reaching the pair, Yuan landed and recalled his wings, leaving a few feathers floating down to the ground which disappeared a few seconds later.

"Yuan!" Lloyd exclaimed. The dual swordsman realised that his father wasn't with the half-elf and wanted to ask Yuan about it but decided against it. Kratos was probably doing the same thing he was, observing the battle and attempting to think of a way fight the enemies back effectively. His father was definitely more suited for the job than he was. Afterall, the older swordsman was a lot more experienced with battle than he was.

"That spell that Vinethea used, it strengthens the target's defenses, reducing the damage that the monsters take to almost nothing," Yuan said after he landed, not putting his weapon away. "Right now, the only thing that can even give them a slight scratch are fire attacks and magic."

"Then how are we supposed to fight them? At this rate, we'll all be worn out from battle before the monsters are all defeated!" Lloyd growled. He hated not being able to do something about it.

"We need to break that spell that was used on the enemy," Yuan replied.

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Lloyd asked again, getting slightly frustrated. Colette gave the swordsman a comforting look which calmed him down a bit, but didn't help ease the frustration Lloyd was feeling.

"You can't dispel it with any angelic magic, can you?"

The three of them turned to who had spoken. It was Celoia. The Nymph was riding on Noishe together with the six smaller Nymphs. Yuan had noted the smaller Nymphs were looking scared, probably because of the demon's presence, or could it be something else?

"Kratos has an angelic spell that can dispel magic that was used on the enemy or on the surroundings," Yuan replied. "But---"

"Then why doesn't Kratos use the spell?" Lloyd yelled, cutting Yuan off before the half-elf angel could finish his next sentence.

"Lloyd!" Colette chided the swordsman. "Don't yell at Yuan! He hasn't even finished speaking yet!"

"I...I'm sorry..." Lloyd apologised to Yuan. "It's just..."

"I know what you're feeling," Yuan replied, brushing the lock of blue hair out of his eye. "It can be difficult being a leader sometimes, especially when you have no idea what to do in a situation like this."

"But Yuan, why can't Kratos use that angelic magic to dispel it?" Colette asked, returning to her kind voice after Lloyd had apologised to Yuan.

"Kratos says that he's not strong enough to destroy the magic," Yuan replied. "This magic does not not belong to Vinethea. It was a power granted to it by someone more powerful than even Kratos' angelic power."

"Then, what are we supposed to do now?" Lloyd asked, finally calming down a bit.

"Right now, we can only continue to fight, hoping a solution would present itself," Yuan replied, shaking his head sadly.

"But the monsters are hardly taking any damage!" Lloyd growled softly.

"If we strengthen our battle prowess, we will do more damage to the enemy," Yuan commented, wondering why Kratos was taking so long to use his spell. Could it be that he's using a different song?

"Professor Raine already did that," Lloyd said, clenching his fists, gripping onto his swords so tightly that the swordsman thought that the hilts would break.

"I'll use Holy Song to strengthen us further!" Colette exclaimed as she summoned her pink angel wings, with the intent of using one of her angelic skills. But before Colette could even start, Yuan grabbed the former Chosen by her wrist, interrupting the young angel.

"Colette, save your energy," Yuan said, staring into the eyes of the the former Chosen of Sylvarant. "Leave that to Kratos."

"But..." Colette started just as Yuan let go of her wrist. It was then her angelic hearing picked up on some chanting in angelic. No. It couldn't even be considered a chant anymore. It sounded more like a song was being sung in the angelic language. Colette then decided to trace the source of that faint singing and noticed Kratos in the air. The blue-winged seraph was singing something in angelic, his eyes closed and right hand placed on his chest. He was slowly floating backwards in the air, white feathers surrounding him which had meant that he was gathering angelic mana. Colette blinked at the sight. She wasn't expecting something like that. Kratos singing? Now that was certainly a strange sight, especially when coming from a person that possessed such a tough and cold exterior.

"Holy One, I offer you my song," Kratos started just as he hit the last phrase of whatever song he was singing. "Bless us with the power of my song! Seraph Song!" The seraph declared just as he opened his eyes and removed his right hand from his chest, thrusting it away from him. A circular wave of angelic mana was sent out from the blue-winged angel, spreading through every single one of his companions and every single human and half-elf of Serant that were fighting the monsters. Blue mana feathers surrounded them briefly before disappearing, increasing their battle and magical power, their defenses and magical defenses, and even their speed.

Almost immediately, the monsters that everyone were fighting fell dead. Even Keele's and Genis' magic took out a few of the weaker enemies at once. But even though that was the case, when compared to them, the monsters were still in very much larger numbers, and most of them were made up of the stronger monsters, like the Dryads and Parasites. It would still take a lot of work to take them all down. In the end, they may tire out before managing to defeat all the monsters.

"Whoa!" Lloyd exclaimed as he noticed that they were faring much better than just now. Keele and Genis just bombarded the enemies as much as they could with their fire magic and Raine watched out for anyone that needed healing. Sheena was finally done aiding with her fire seal spell. Then summoning the Mizuho Fire Guardian to her side with a different seal, she rushed into battle. With the extra boost, Dias was able to move and hit much faster. After much dodging and slashing, the twin blade managed to take out a Dryad. As for the denizens of Serant, they just did what they could, considering that they weren't as strong as Keele, Genis, Sheena, Dias and Raine. Afterall, they didn't use an exsphere.

"That's one powerful support spell," Colette commented as she too noticed the effects of it.

"Even so, we're not out of the rut yet."

Lloyd, Colette and Yuan immediately turned to the one that had spoken. Kratos, after casting his angelic spell, flew over to where the three of them, including Noishe and the Nymphs, were. The seraph landed before them and recalled his wings, leaving a few blue mana feathers scattering to the ground.

"We still need to find a way to break the spell otherwise we'd still lose."

"Yeah, I know," Lloyd replied softly. "But what are we going to do now?"

"I'm going to help the others while you talk," Colette declared, interrupting them.

"Colette, don't hesitate to use your angelic powers. You're going to need them," Kratos advised.

Colette nodded. "I understand. Thank you, Kratos."

"Be careful, Colette," Lloyd added, a bit worried about letting her going into a tough battle. But knowing that he was needed over here right now and the fact that Colette was no longer a weakling, the Eternal Swordsman trusted that the young angel would be able take care of herself.

"I will, Lloyd." With that, the former Chosen of Sylvarant flew into battle, gripping her chakrams tightly in her hands.

"So, now what?" Yuan asked, turning to look at Lloyd who in turn turned to look at his biological father. After the dual swordsman turned to look at Kratos, Yuan turned to look at the human angel too.

Kratos placed his right hand over his chest and closed his eyes in thought, trying to think of a solution. Then thinking back at what he had learned about the spell, he started from there, hoping to arrive at a solution. "Well, we know that the spell uses the feelings of hate that had been sowed from the past quarrels between the humans and half-elves of Serant, especially during the times when the monsters attacked the village..."

"If it's created by a negative feeling such as hate, can't you counter it with something that is the opposite of that feeling?" Lloyd suggested, lifting his index finger as if he was hinting.

"The hate is created by the discrimination between humans and half-elves," Yuan started, attempting to expand on Lloyd's point. "If we counter with something that is the opposite of that, it would break the barrier?"

"But..." Kratos added, turning to look at the sky. Then a few seconds later, turned back to look at both Lloyd and Yuan once more. "...what can we use?"

"Uhh..." Lloyd replied, scratching his head. "Friendship between humans and half-elves? Now, that would be the opposite of that, right?"

"Well...that's true, but how are we going to dispel the barrier with that?" Kratos replied, closing his eyes and crossing his arms in thought. "You can't expect the villagers of Serant to be good friends all of a sudden."

"Uhh...now, that wouldn't be possible," Lloyd replied sheepishly. "A strong friendship isn't formed overnight."

"We could try talking to them again," Celoia piped up, getting the Eternal Swordsman's and the two seraphim's attention. Almost immediately, all eyes were turned to acknowledge the oldest Nymph. "If we can convince them to stop attacking, the village will be saved."

"It won't help," Kratos replied, shaking his head. "The monsters had been under the demon's influence for too long. They will no longer believe what anyone else say anymore..."

"Such is the power of a Vinethea over plant monsters..." Yuan added, sighing.

"Mr. Angel call big brown creature! Big brown creature strong! Got us out of forest!" The six younger Nymphs yelled in unison. "Use big brown creature destroy shield!"

Now everyone's attention were on the six Nymphs. Lloyd, Yuan and Celoia were puzzled over what they were trying to say, but Kratos knew what they were talking about.

"Gnome..." The summoner whispered as he realised the one thing that might overpower the shield. "Martel once said that when voices were unable to reach, use the power of the heart to fight instead."

"Wait...Kratos can attack the monsters with the power of the heart..." Yuan gasped as he realised what the human angel was onto.

"Huh? Dad attacking the monsters with the power of the heart?" Lloyd repeated, clearly confused over all that.

"High summon, Lloyd," Yuan sighed, slapping his forehead.

"Oh."

"But we have another problem," Kratos added suddenly, turning to stare intently at both his son and best friend. "I might not be able to overpower the shield with just my feelings alone. Even if I was able to overpower it, the monsters are in large numbers. We need to not just overpower the shield, but also take out as many monsters with it at the same time."

"We can have Keele, Genis and myself on standby with magic to hit the monsters," Yuan suggested.

"Even if that is so," Kratos continued. "What if I can't overpower the shield with my feelings alone? I can only draw upon my own feelings for high summoning, and not anyone else's."

"Argh, we're still at a dead end?" Lloyd yelled in frustration.

"If only I can combine my high summoning power together with their elemental weakness, I will be able to overpower the shield," Kratos declared as he remembered something at the same time. _"Wait a minute, their weakness is fire, and yesterday, the PortNav detected a mana signature which I picked up to be a faint concentration of fire mana. If Efreet is really there and I can form a pact with him---"_

While Yuan and Lloyd were wondering what to do when they realised that Kratos needed the Summon Spirit of Fire's power in order for them to have a chance of winning this battle, Kratos summoned his blue angel wings out of a sudden and took to the air towards the direction of the forest.

"Hey! Where's Dad going?" Lloyd asked as he turned to look at Yuan. The half-elf angel shrugged at that as he himself had no idea what Kratos was planning. The other seraph didn't even leave a clue or anything for him to figure out. Yuan debated whether to go after his friend. Whatever Kratos was going to do, he might have wanted to do it alone and thus told them nothing. But before he could make a decision, Celoia spoke up.

"Sir Kratos is a summoner, isn't he?"

"Yes, he is a summoner," Yuan replied. "Why?"

"I think I know where he might be going," Celoia replied.

"Where?" Lloyd asked with a slight tone of worry in his voice.

"About a week ago," Celoia started. "We came across a creature that emitted the same type of aura that surrounded him. It was big and red and had no legs. It was floating above the ground. At first, we thought that he was hostile to us. Then it told us that he was a summon spirit and he's there waiting for a summoner to come."

"A summon spirit? Now which one is it? I have no idea which one fits the description," Lloyd said in confusion.

"Efreet!" Yuan gasped as he realised what Kratos was after. "He's trying to form a pact with Efreet in order to save Serant!"

"Alone? We got to help him!" Lloyd cried as he caught onto Yuan's meaning. Then he turned to Celoia. "Where is the summon spirit?"

"At the other side of the forest," The Nymph replied.

"Let's go after him!" Lloyd declared as he started to make a move, but Yuan grabbed hold of the red-clad swordsman before he even started taking a single step.

"Lloyd, I'll go. The others need you over here to lead them."

"But..."

"Besides, he's flying over the forest and not going through it. Only by flying can one catch up to him."

"But I want to help him!" Lloyd protested.

"I know you do," Yuan replied as he let go of the swordsman's arm. "But you would be of more help over here, leading our other companions. Dias is already leading the villagers of Serant. You can lead the others. Besides, you know how they fight better than I do."

"Yuan..."

"I'm sure this is what Kratos would have wanted you to do," Yuan added nodding. "Lead the others against the monsters until he returns."

"Alright," Lloyd finally nodded, agreeing to the half-elf's decision. "We will hold out against the monsters over here. Make sure you and Dad return quickly!"

"I'll be sure to tell him that," Yuan smiled as he used magic to store his weapon away and summoned his angel wings. "Do not lose until then!"

"Don't worry! We won't!" Lloyd yelled back just as Yuan took to the air. Then gripping the Material Blade tightly in his hands, Lloyd commanded Noishe to look after the Nymphs and quickly joined the others in battle.

"Great. I'm _so_ going to have trouble catching up to him," Yuan muttered to himself, once again regretting not using his wings more often. "I can't for the life of me fly as fast as he could..." Not being able to do anything about it, the half-elf angel just did the best he could to catch up to his friend.

OoOoOoO

Lloyd quickly rushed to aid the others just as Yuan left. Calling to the others, the dual swordsman explained to them quickly on the current situation.

"Kratos and Yuan have both gone after Efreet!"

Almost immediately, Colette and Sheena turned to look at the Eternal Swordsman. Both Genis, Raine and Keele too turned to look at Lloyd after they had finished casting their spells.

"Efreet?" Raine questioned, sounding slightly angry at that. "At a time like this?"

"What were they thinking?" Sheena too questioned, although she didn't sound as angry as Raine did.

"Dad says that he would be able to break through the protection that had been placed on the monsters if he high summons Efreet on them," Lloyd explained, telling them the reason which they had left them. "That protection was created with the power of hate. If someone attacks it with the power of the heart using something that is the opposite of that hate, it would break the shield."

"Kratos can do that through high summoning, can't he?" Genis said.

"But can't he just high summon something else instead?" Sheena asked, quite puzzled by it. "Why Efreet?"

"It is to ensure that the shield will be completely destroyed," Lloyd replied. "Or at least that's what Dad said. He can ensure that he will destroy the shield if he high summoned with the enemies' elemental weakness, namely fire. He also said something like he could only high summon with his feelings alone and not with the feelings of others together with his own, that's why he needs to high summon with Efreet."

"So our job now is to hold out against the monsters until they return?" Keele asked, readying a few arrows on his bow.

"That's basically it," Lloyd replied, nodding in the elf's direction.

"Then, let's do our best!" Keele replied as he turned back to the monsters. Then pulling the string on his bow and charging his arrows with fire mana, the elven archer shot them all at once. "Fire Arrow Shower!" The arrows that Keele shot flew up diagonally into the air. As they reached the peak of their flight, the fire enchanted arrows magically started splitting into more arrows as they started raining on the monsters. It managed to knock out a few of the weakened Mandrakes, doing some damage to the rest.

"I'll go and aid the villagers and let Dias know what's happening," Colette declared as she flared her angel wings, covering her with a soft pink glow. Lloyd nodded to her as he knew that Dias and the villagers of Serant would benefit from the help provided by the young angel. The villagers, although were larger in numbers, were still weaker when compared to them. After all, exspheres enhanced their agility, reflexes and strength by tenfold which allowed them to take on stronger opponents or more than one opponent at once.

Genis started tapping his kendama once more as he recited Explosion to use against the monsters, gathering fire mana around him. Lloyd then reached into his pockets for something, pulling out a small pouch when he found it. Then turning to face Raine, Lloyd handed it to the half-elven professor.

"Professor Sage, you need to concentrate on using healing magic on everyone, especially the villagers. So I'm leaving the pineapple gels with you. We'll stick to using the weaker gels."

Raine nodded at Lloyd's decision and took the pouch from the red-clad swordsman. Sheena, who also agreed with Lloyd's decision, followed in his example and took out whatever pineapple gels she had and handed them over to Raine. Nodding to the dual swordsman and the shinobi, the silver-haired half-elf turned to the villagers and started charging one of her healing spells, seeing as how they needed it right now. Keele retreated a bit nearer to Raine in order to shield her due to the fact that he could snipe enemies from afar with his bow. Raising his free hand, the elven mage then charged a fire spell, with the intent of backing Genis up at the same time. Due to the fact that he was an elf and used an exsphere, his own mana regeneration ability was faster when compared to either Raine or Genis, thus he can aid both Sage siblings at the same time.

"Sheena, let's go get them!" Lloyd declared as he turned to face the purple-clad ninja. Sheena nodded to the swordsman. Then calling her summoned Mizuho Fire Guardian to her side and readying her Divine Judgment card, the ninja rushed towards the monsters with her guardian by her side. Lloyd, brandishing both the Flamberge and Vorpal Sword, charged in right after the shinobi, cutting anything that was in his path.

"Dias!" Colette yelled just as she approached the twin blade in flight. Dias, upon hearing his name being called, quickly finished off the monster that he was fighting and turned to address the person that had called him. But he wasn't quite ready for what he saw. Pink angel wings were fluttering behind Colette as she hovered there, gripping her Angel's Halo chakrams tightly.

"Y-You're an angel too?" Dias gasped out. "Does that mean you're the same as Kratos and Yuan?"

Colette shook her head. "No. I'm actually the former Chosen of Sylvarant that has completed the angelic transformation. But anyway, I'm here to let you know that Kratos and Yuan have gone after Efreet, the Summon Spirit of Fire, and we need to hold out against the monsters until they return."

"Now that's a surprise," Dias muttered. "That means you guys are..."

"Yep, we're the heroes that reunited the two worlds!" Colette replied, giving the half-elf her trademarked smile. "Lloyd's the Eternal Swordsman!"

"Who would have thought---"

"The monsters are coming!" Colette cried, interrupting the twin blade's sentence. Then throwing both her chakrams using Dual Ray Thrust, the angel followed it up with Torrential Para Ball, where she threw three para balls in succession. While not doing much damage, it paralysed the monster that the attack hit. Torrential Para Ball would not even do any damage if it weren't for the fact that they were all strengthened by Kratos' angelic power.

Wasting no time, Dias followed up Colette's attack immediately with another swift combo of his. Slashing with his twin short swords normally, the half-elf then lead it into Twin Stab, where he stabbed with both of his short swords at high speed, followed by Fire Cross Slash, a fire based attack where Dias would slash twice with his swords in the shape of a cross. After that, the half-elf finished it with Sonic Blow, an attack where Dias would slash at the enemy with his swords twenty times at a very high speed. After the half-elf was done with his attack, the monster fell down, defeated.

"Come on, let's go help the villagers!" Colette said as she started flying to where the villagers were fighting. Dias quickly dashed after the young angel, with the intent of aiding the people of his home. When both half-elf and angel reached the villagers, Raine's Revitalize spell appeared before them, healing any of the villagers that were injured. Then positioning themselves in front of the villagers, Dias and Colette prepared to aid them.

As another group of monsters advanced towards them, the villagers that were fighting up close, with Dias in the lead, charged the monsters while the half-elves who could use magic stayed back and used their spells. Colette, because she could hit from a range, stayed flying above the magic users and used nothing but ranged attacks on the monsters, with the occasional Angel Feathers angel skill, protecting them at the same time. Quite surprisingly, Colette's Angel Feathers skill was doing decent damage on the monsters, even though the attack was light based. She wondered if Kratos' Seraph Song also enhanced the power of angel skills, that was why he had told her not to hesitate to use her angelic powers. With their combined might, Dias and Colette, together with the villagers, were able to defeat some of the monsters.

Sheena had engaged a Dryad by herself. The Fire Guardian, which was by her side, had shot flame breath attacks at the Dryad's vines, burning them away in an instant. Seizing the opportunity, the ninja rushed in with Power Seal, followed by Serpent Seal Pinion, then Pyre Seal, smacking the Dryad silly. After breaking her combo, Sheena followed up with Cyclone Seal, suspending the monster in the air, then commanding the Fire Guardian to hit it with more flame breath attacks, burning the Dryad to a crisp. After that, Sheena's attack dropped the Dryad onto the ground, dealing the final blow. With the monster disposed of, Sheena, together with her Fire Guardian, went to seek out more monsters to clear.

Lloyd used Demonic Chaos, a ranged attack where he would fire three Demon Fangs one after another, at one of the monsters that he was approaching. After his initial attack, the swordsman, covered by his own attack, rushed the monster and slashed it a few times with his swords, then lead it into a Tiger Blade, where he would attack in two slashes, one upwards while doing a low leap into the air, and a downwards slash when he came down. After that, the swordsman used Sword Rain: Alpha where he would rapidly stab his opponent with his swords, ending with an upwards slash into the air. Then to finish it off, Lloyd used Rising Falcon right after. Since he was already in the air, the red-clad swordsman just dived down with both of his swords pointing at the enemy, stabbing the monster he was fighting real hard. Even with the protection that had been placed upon it, the monster could not take Lloyd's attacks and fell, defeated.

"Dad's angelic power is incredible..." Lloyd whispered to himself as he moved onto the next monster.

OoOoOoO

"It was somewhere around here..." Kratos muttered to himself as he hovered above the forest which he had visited yesterday. Taking his PortNav out from his pack, the summoner activated it and it responded with a blip. Once again, the radar detected a mana signature that was quite a distance from where he was. But since he was now hovering above the forest, the seraph was able to use his angelic sight to see where it came from. And from Kratos' view point, it looked like the mana signature came from the other side of the forest. After finding the direction to go, the blue-winged seraph was about to take off towards it when his angelic hearing picked out someone calling out his name from quite a distance. And that was one voice he was all too familiar with. Afterall, the summoner had heard it for more than 4000 years.

"Kratos! Wait for me!" Yuan screamed as he flew towards the summoner. Kratos hovered there in amusement as he waited for the half-elf to catch up. It was then the angel realised that Yuan was flying too fast and he wouldn't be able to stop on time.

"Yuan, you're flying too fast!" Kratos yelled back. Quickly clipping the PortNav onto one of his belts, he then spreading both his arms out wide, the blue-winged seraph prepared to catch Yuan. The half-elf realised that he wouldn't be able to stop on time since he wasn't too good with maneuvering with his wings, but at least attempted to slow down. Almost failing to at least slow down, the half-elf angel smashed into the open arms of Kratos, nearly toppling the other angel from his hover. Thankfully, the human seraph was ready to catch Yuan, thus had already called upon his angelic strength to aid in the process.

"I'm never doing that again!" Yuan declared with a sigh of relief.

"Now that wouldn't be the first time, would it?" Kratos commented as he let go of Yuan and floated backwards a little. "What are you doing here?"

"You were going to go after Efreet alone, weren't you?"

"How did you know?" Kratos asked, a little surprised with that.

"Celoia told me and Lloyd that they had met Efreet about a week ago," Yuan explained. "Judging from what you needed in order to dispel the shield, we deduced that you're trying form a pact with Efreet by yourself."

"You didn't have to come though," Kratos muttered, removing the PortNav which he had clipped to his belt about a minute ago. "I've fought the summon spirits by myself before."

"I know that all too well," Yuan sighed, scratching his head. "But Lloyd wouldn't see it that way. But he was needed there, so in order to put the boy at ease, I had to come after you."

"That Lloyd..." Kratos replied, slapping his forehead with his spare hand.

"He's just worried about you, that's all," Yuan said, shrugging. "And Lloyd tells us to return quickly."

"Then let's not waste anymore time," Kratos replied, nodding. Then he glanced at the PortNav once more to confirm the direction they needed to go and went towards it, Yuan following close behind.

The two seraphim finally reached the other side of the forest. There laid a huge green plains, where only short green grass was seen growing. Not a single flower nor tree grew there. Some distance away, the two of them saw a lake of steaming water. Curious as to why was that so, the duo flew over there and landed, leaving a few blue and violet feathers scattering to the ground as they recalled their wings. Kratos checked the PortNav once again to see which direction they needed to go. Yuan squatted down and placed his hand into the lake of steaming water. After leaving it inside for a few seconds, the half-elf withdrew it.

"It's a hot spring," Yuan declared as he stood up. "Why is there a hot spring here?"

"It means that there is a volcano nearby," Kratos replied, looking at the direction where the PortNav indicated.

"A volcano?" Yuan asked, clearly puzzled by that. "We didn't see any volcanos from the air."

"It's an underground volcano," Kratos replied. "It's probably where Efreet is," he added and started walking towards the east.

"Oh right, an underground volcano," Yuan muttered as he followed behind the summoner. "A very rare sight."

Not wasting anymore time, the two seraphim walked quickly through the plains. They didn't have to walk long however. Just a short distance away, they came across a set of stone monuments which seemed to mark the entrance to a place. In between the stone monument stood a stone pedestal.

"This should be the entrance to the underground volcano," Kratos replied as he put away his PortNav back into his pouch.

"There is a high concentration of fire mana nearby too," Yuan replied, nodding. "But where is the entrance?"

"Perhaps..." Kratos said as he walked up to the stone pedestal and started examining it. "...the answer laid within this stone pedestal."

"Hmm..." Yuan muttered as he too stepped up and examined the pedestal, noticing writings which he had never seen before. "I have no idea what it's saying..."

"To the one who can read this, present 'The Song of Fire' to me," Kratos said as he stared at the words, wondering what they meant.

"Present 'The Song of Fire'?" Yuan asked, scratching his head. Just then, the half-elf realised something. "Whoa! You can read this?"

"It's written in the summon spirit language," Kratos replied, at a slight loss at the meaning of the words. "But the meaning of these words, it's almost as if Efreet was waiting for me."

"Hmm, Celoia mentioned that Efreet was waiting for someone when it was telling us where you might be headed," Yuan said thoughtfully. "But based on what assumption did you conclude that Efreet was waiting for you?"

"Stand away from the pedestal," Kratos said as he stepped back. "I'll show you."

Yuan nodded and walked backwards, stopping beside Kratos just as the summoner stopped. The half-elf was waiting in anticipation at this 'Song of Fire' and what it meant. Yuan decided to observe what Kratos was doing. The human angel closed his eyes for a few seconds and took a deep breath. After that, he opened them and started moving his lips.

_Ruler of the hellfire, Efreet  
Power of the fiery flames  
Powerful and strong  
Burning through all evil in your wake  
Never wavering  
Eternally blazing  
Keeping the flames of life bright_

Just as Kratos was done, Yuan stared at the summoner in awe. It had been more than ten years, almost twenty to be exact, since the blue-haired half-elf had heard his friend sing, and his voice was still as angelic as ever. It was because Martel had heard Kratos singing in the forest while being chased by the elves that had caused their first meeting. Martel had insisted that they traced the source of the music and found Kratos sitting on a branch of a tree, apparently singing to himself. That was how the three half-elves had met the human summoner, the meeting that had lead to the events that stopped the Kharlan War, the splitting of the world, and the reunification of the world. According to Kratos, it seemed like he had the ability to sing like that since young, and had remained like this even when he got older. Kratos' father had always said that he had the voice of an angel. How ironic, the summoner was an angel now, and that comment seemed all the more fitting.

"What exactly is 'The Song of Fire' anyway?" Yuan asked just as Kratos was done.

"It's actually a part of a song that I had written for the summon spirits," Kratos replied, staring at the stone pedestal, as if waiting for something to happen. "It's the reasoning which I used to conclude that Efreet seems to be waiting for me."

"Oh, really?" Yuan replied, wondering what was going to happen next. They didn't have to wait too long however. The stone pedestal in front of them suddenly crumbled, revealing a set of stairs beneath where it used to be.

"Looks like we found our underground volcano," Kratos commented as he stepped forward. "Let us make haste."

"Yeah," Yuan acknowledged as he followed behind the summoner. "The others are waiting for our return."

Both seraphim descended the stairs slowly. As the path was narrow, Kratos had went down first with Yuan following behind. After descending the stairs for about a minute or so, the both of them finally reached the bottom. Glancing around, the two angels took in their surroundings. The area which they had arrived at was pretty large, with tall rocks shaped like columns acting as pillars for the underground cavern. Several rocks that were glowing red laid littered on the ground and a few small pools of bubbling molten lava were scattered among the solid ground. With their angelic sight, they saw the walls of the underground cavern to their left and right, and they too, were glowing red.

"It looks like there is a probability that we may end up having the need to fly in order to dodge around here," Kratos commented, especially taking note of the pools of molten lava and the rocks that were glowing red which essentially meant that those rocks where hot.

"And I can't dodge properly in flight," Yuan muttered bitterly. Then he started wiping his forehead with his hand, trying to clear himself of sweat. "It's really hot, isn't it?" Then he started flapping his shirt.

"Very hot," Kratos murmured, although not mimicking Yuan's actions. "This heat will seriously hamper battle."

"But we don't have a choice, do we?" Yuan said as he took off his cloak and stored it away in one of his item packs.

"Not necessarily so," Kratos replied as he raised a hand out and started gathering water mana. "Maiden of the Mist, Undine!" Obeying her pact-maker's call, Undine appeared before them in a swirl of blue mana.

"Is there anything you wish of me?" Undine asked as she appeared before the two angels, acknowledging her pact-maker's call.

"Undine, I need you to protect us from this heat," Kratos replied, moving his hair out of his eyes which were sticking over them. Yuan seemed relieved that the summoner was asking Undine to shield them from this heat, which would make things easier for them later on.

"You do understand that if I do that, you won't be able to call me in battle later, until you leave this place?"

"Wait a minute!" Yuan gasped out just as he absorbed the water maiden's reply. "Can't summon Undine?"

"Yes, that's right," Kratos replied, not moving from his position.

"Won't being unable to summon Undine handicap you against Efreet?" Yuan replied, sounding like he was in a panic. He couldn't believe that Kratos could still stay so calm after hearing something like that.

"That's true," Kratos replied, shaking his head slightly. "But this heat will be an even greater handicap compared to that."

"But..."

"Don't worry, about it. Water is not the only thing that can be used against fire enemies," Kratos replied calmly, turning his head to face Yuan. "You're an expert with magic, surely you remember something like that?"

"Umm..." Yuan replied, scratching his head sheepishly. "Not really..."

Kratos rolled his eyes from that and sighed. Then turning back to Undine, he nodded to the summon spirit. "Undine, please protect us from this heat."

"Very well," Undine nodded. The water maiden then closed her eyes and changed her form into that of pure water mana. Then separating into two balls of mana, the water mana wrapped around the two angels, seemingly disappearing into them.

"Wow..." Yuan muttered almost silently. "I don't feel so hot anymore."

"Come on, we've wasted enough time," Kratos said just as he moved the last of his sticky hair out of his eyes. Then the summoner started walking forward, towards the high concentration of fire mana.

"Yeah, the others are waiting for us..." Yuan whispered just as he followed the human angel, knowing full well that Kratos could hear him with his angelic hearing.

As the two angels went deeper into the cavern, they noticed fewer pools of lava. Just as they were close to the mana concentration, they saw a large v-shaped rock that was sticking out like a platform over a large pool of magma in front of them, with a thick base that supported it, embedded to the floor of the cavern which they stood on.

"This must be the core of the volcano," Yuan observed just as Kratos walked forward towards the large rock. Yuan followed slowly behind, summoned Gungnir and prepared to fight.

Kratos stopped when he almost reached the tip of the rock. As if in response, a swirl of red-colored mana appeared before the summoner, slowly forming into a reddish-orange-colored creature with a muscular body. The bottom-half of the creature's body was shaped like that of a snake. It had three large fingers and wore guards that were in a mix of blue and purple. It had two large and two small horns in its head, making it look like a demon. It had purple-colored shoulder guards that extended behind him, making look like they were claws. Sticking out at the back of its head was a devil-winged shaped like cloak which seemed to mimic hair.

"Efreet..." Kratos whispered just as he gazed upon the mighty form of the Summon Spirit of Fire. Efreet was the second summon spirit he had formed a pact with back during the Kharlan War days. He still remembered his battle with the spirit well. If it weren't for the fact that he already had a pact with Undine at that time, the summoner wouldn't have been able to overcome the Summon Spirit of Fire. At that time, Kratos wasn't even fighting Efreet at his full power. Even though he was a high summoner, but because of the fact that he was challenging the red giant alone, Efreet wasn't allowed to fight him with his full power. But now that Yuan was with him, he would have to face the summon spirit at his full strength. And from the fact that he was unable to use Undine's power made it all the more harder. But then, Kratos was a lot stronger compared to that time. And considering the fact that it was Yuan that was with him and not any of the others might not make things too hard. Afterall, they didn't really need to get their thoughts to each other when they fought. The two angels literally knew what the other wanted to do even without talking to each other. They had fought together for so long that they no longer had the need to.

"I've been waiting, you who possess the right of the pact," Efreet said, acknowledging the high summoner before him. "I am one who is bound to Sheena. What do you wish of me?"

"Efreet, you really were waiting for me..." Kratos replied, looking into Efreet's eyes without fear, as if trying to read the fire spirit's soul. "The Summon Spirits, except for Verius, all know something about what is happening to the Mana Tree, don't they?"

"Maybe, maybe not. Perhaps we do know something, perhaps we don't," Efreet replied, unfazed by the summoner's question. "But you will find out when the time comes, won't you? But until you do, all you can really do right now is to continue to move forward, isn't that so?"

Kratos had no idea what to say in reply to that. For once, he was completely at a loss at what to say. The angel hated not knowing anything, what he was supposed to do or where he was supposed to go. It just wasn't his way of doing things, walking blindly into situations which may very well jeopardize the lives of others and that of his own.

"But rather than asking me that, don't you have more pressing matters that you need to handle right now?"

"Serant..." Kratos murmured, turning to glance at the cavern floor of the underground volcano.

"Is it not the reason that you're here right now? In order to gain my power once more to save others?"

Yuan had decided not to interfere with the conversation. The half-elf knew that Kratos was quite frustrated with what was happening to the Yggdrasill Tree. It was because he knew, that was why he wanted to finish his radar as soon as he could. But it was taking quite long, since he never had to make such complicated adjustments to any radars which the angel had used in the past. Right now, Efreet was going to be the fifth summon spirit which Kratos was going to form a pact with. They had already located four summon spirits in less than a week since their return to the newly reunited worlds. Up till now, they had been lucky, but for how long was that luck going to last? That was the reason Yuan was determined to get the radar working as soon as possible. Just like Kratos, he wanted to save and protect the world which Lloyd and the others had worked so hard to reunite. The two seraphim had even played a part in its restoration, and neither one of them wanted the world to die.

Kratos finally turned his gaze from the floor of the cavern back at Efreet after much thought. Perhaps he shouldn't rush into things too much. Sure, the summoner was desperate to save Symphonia, but right now, he should just simply continue to move forward and get stronger, so that he would be able to fight whoever was threatening the world when the time came. It was clear from what Vinethea had said. There was obviously someone trying to kill the Mana Tree, and it was the master of that plant demon.

Drawing the Last Fencer, Kratos held it beside him and started to address the Summon Spirit of Fire once more. "Efreet, I am Kratos. I ask that thou annulst thy pact with Sheena and form a new pact with me."

"I will now see if you deserve to possess a pact with me once again! Show me your true strength and wish, high summoner!" Efreet roared. Then without warning, the summon spirit threw out a flaming punch at Kratos. It came so suddenly that the summoner was completely unprepared for it. Well, almost unprepared. Although he was unable to call upon his Guardian shield, Kratos did manage to raise his sword in defense. However, the strength of Efreet's punch was enough to send Kratos flying into a rock, slamming back first into it. Fortunately, thanks to Undine's protection, the summoner was protected from the heat that was emitted by the rock.

"Kratos!" Yuan cried when he saw his friend slam into the rock.

"Don't worry, I'm fine!" Kratos replied just as he got up, gritting his teeth from the pain of the impact. Thankfully, none of his bones broke as the summoner had, right at the very last moment, called upon a small amount of wind mana to cushion the blow to his back. "Don't keep your eyes off Efreet!"

Kratos warning almost came too late. Taking heed of it, Yuan quickly spun around to face the Summon Spirit of Fire. It was just in time too. Efreet had already started charging towards the half-elf when he got temporarily distracted. Raising his weapon, Yuan managed to block Efreet's attack which used both of the summon spirit's fists, which were burning with fire, to strike his foes. Then swinging Gungnir, the half-elf struck back at Efreet twice with it, once with each of the two blades that made up his polearm. Then doing one final slam to the ground, Yuan summoned water mana onto his weapon which lead into one of his special attacks.

"Aqua Explosion!"

An explosion of water flooded Efreet just as Yuan's attack hit the summon spirit. Raising his arms in defense, the red giant blocked out some of the attack. Recovering quickly from it, Efreet quickly countered the half-elf's attack, breaking through the remains of the water created from Yuan's strike, calling upon fire mana into his right fist and slamming the ground, creating an explosion of fire in front of the blue-haired half-elf. Unprepared for the Summon Spirit of Fire's next attack, Yuan got blasted backwards by it. Crouching low as he skidded backwards, Yuan stopped at a considerable distance from the summon spirit, not hitting anything nor getting knocked to the ground by the attack. However, as the half-elf took a quick glance behind him, Yuan realised how precariously close he was to one of the magma pools. If he hadn't broken his fall, the angel would have fallen into it. Somewhat scorched by Efreet's attack, Yuan stood back up once again to face the Summon Spirit of Fire.

"Nurturing mother earth, gather thy healing power to this place! Healing Stream!" Kratos' voice echoed throughout the cavern just as he called upon one of his healing spells. A huge blue-colored circle appeared beneath both angels, quickly healing any immediate wounds they had taken from Efreet's attacks. Then brandishing his sword once more, he readied to engage Efreet with Yuan.

Kratos quickly waved his sword in an upwards arc, shooting a Crescent Wave at Efreet. The summoner's special attack slammed Efreet squarely at his chest, and the red giant staggered backwards from the force of the blow. The summon spirit immediately turned his attention to the high summoner and decided to charge him. Flaming fists in front of him, Efreet almost struck the summoner, but Kratos sidestepped the Summon Spirit of Fire right at the very last minute, earning the red giant a slash to his arm. Just as Efreet turned to face the auburn-haired swordsman again, a whirlpool of water appeared below the summon spirit.

"Maelstrom!"

Columns of water rose all around Efreet, striking the fire spirit dead on. Seizing the chance created by Yuan's magic, Kratos performed Lightning Blade into the columns of water. Electricity flowed through the water as the spell continued to assault the Summon Spirit of Fire, attacking him with a mix of water and electricity. Because water conducted electricity, Yuan's magic enhanced the power of Kratos' Lightning Blade skill.

Efreet recovered quickly from the two angels' attacks and turned to face them. By this time, both human and half-elf had regrouped, standing beside the other, with Kratos taking the left and Yuan at the right. Brandishing their weapons, the two seraphim awaited Efreet's next move.

"Your teamwork is commendable," Efreet stated, crossing his arms over his chest and stopped to observe the two angels. "It's not something you see everyday, the harmonious unison of your attacks, making use of each other's attacks to strike back at the enemy."

"We'll take that as a compliment," Yuan replied, gripping Gungnir tightly. "Or maybe we just have too much time to work on fighting together."

"Perhaps you did have too much time," Efreet snickered, his face not giving anything away. "Are you sure it's not because of your seemingly unbreakable bond as friends that causes that?"

"What are you trying to hint at, Efreet?" Kratos questioned, holding out the Last Fencer in front of him, ready to strike at anytime.

"With that bond of yours," Efreet replied, seemingly undaunted by the summoner's question. "The two of you can save Serant."

"But I can't---" Kratos started but was cut off in mid sentence by Efreet.

"That's not important right now," Efreet boomed just as he raised both of his arms as if ready to summon something. "The real fight begins now!" With those words, the Summon Spirit of Fire fired all sorts of fire magic at the two angels, using fire spells ranging from the weak Eruption to the powerful Explosion, with almost no charge time.

"What the---?" Yuan gasped as he started making a break for it, trying to dodge the spells as quickly as his feet would allow. Even though the half-elf seraph had called upon as much strength as possible from his Cruxis Crystal to aid him, Yuan still had several close calls at dodging the spells, almost getting hit by them. The blue-haired half-elf was surprised at how quickly Efreet had called upon all that fire mana at once to cast several fire spells. Sure, Efreet was the Summon Spirit of Fire, but even then, it shouldn't be possible to cast so many spells at once even if one was a summon spirit using magic of its own element!

Kratos wasn't doing too good at dodging the spells either. The summoner too, had several close calls at dodging Efreet's magical assault. But unlike Yuan, who had just used his own speed and agility, enhanced by the power of the half-elf's Cruxis Crystal, to dodge the spells, Kratos had used a combination of speed, agility and flight to dodge them. The human seraph whizzed by some of the spells, flew over or beneath some of them, occasionally landing and dodging on foot, propelled by the power of his own angel wings.

"We can't just keep dodging like this!" Yuan managed to yell from all that dodging he was doing.

Kratos knew Yuan was right. The summoner also knew how Efreet was able to do this, and the fire spirit would be able to continue to do so as long as they were fighting within the vicinity of the underground volcano. They couldn't just keep dodging like this. It would eventually wear them out. But then, Efreet himself would not be able to keep this up forever either. In the end, it was down to whichever side would tire out first.

But Kratos wasn't about to take any chances. Because Yuan was busy dodging, it would be pointless to get him to attempt a water spell at Efreet to break the red giant out of his magical assault or ask the blue-haired half-elf to enchant his sword with water mana. If the half-elf did try to do either, he would not be able to concentrate on dodging. It was the same for him too. There wasn't enough time for him to call upon a water spell to attack Efreet, and the fact that water wasn't one of his better elements didn't help either. Compared to the basic and mid level earth, fire, wind and thunder spells which he was able to use, the only water magic he knew was Undine's spirit magic, Tsunami. And that took quite a while to cast.

Falling back on the only other option he had, the summoner quickly reached into the pouch which contained the rings which he had obtained from the summon spirits which he had successfully formed pacts with. Pulling out the aquamarine, Kratos quickly slipped it on the middle finger of his right hand. Then spinning in flight out of the way of one of Efreet's spells, the angel called upon an energy unto the Last Fencer, focusing it into one of his special attacks. Because the aquamarine enchanted his weapon with water mana, Kratos didn't need to gather water mana to his weapon in order to use his water-based special attacks. Then swinging his sword down, a powerful water-based shockwave shot forth, blasting through Efreet's magic, and charging towards the Summon Spirit of Fire.

"Aqua Blade Shockwave!"

The attack smashed into Efreet so hard that the summon spirit had staggered and fell from his position, completely stopping his attack. Both angels finally had some room to breathe, stopping only to catch their breath.

"Nice save, pal," Yuan gasped out in between breaths.

"It was a close one though," Kratos murmured as he landed and recalled his wings, catching his breath with quick, deep ones.

"How in the name of the Giant Tree did Efreet do that?" Yuan asked as he finally calmed down. "That magical barrage is something that is impossible to do!"

"It's the volcano," Kratos explained as he eyed Efreet. "Because of all the magma around us, there was plenty of fire mana around for Efreet to use. Because of the abundance of it, he could use it to cast fire spells almost instantaneously. Of course, this is something that normal people can't do. Afterall, the elemental summon spirits are the embodiments of the purest form of elemental mana, and if their surroundings have plenty of mana in which they control, they can use it to cast spells in an instant."

"That's dangerous!" Yuan cried, almost falling over from shock. "But when Mithos fought the summon spirits..."

"This is their true strength," Kratos replied, not taking his eyes off Efreet, ready to counterattack when needed. "Which they are only allowed to use when fighting against a high summoner who isn't challenging them alone. It's a rule set by Origin."

"Then isn't it easier for a high summoner to fight a summon spirit alone?"

"Not necessarily so," Kratos replied as he saw Efreet finally got up. "Here he comes!"

Not wasting any time, Efreet, with a wave of his hand, made the pools of lava shoot columns of magma all around the two angels. Although the columns of lava weren't attacking them, it seemed to have some other adverse effect on them instead.

"It's getting hot again..." Yuan muttered as he swept the lock of long hair out of his right eye.

Kratos felt the heat too. "That shouldn't be possible...Undine's power---" Kratos immediately cut himself off as he realised what was going on. The columns of lava was making the cavern very much hotter than what it was supposed to be. And that heat was cutting through Undine's protection. Afterall, the temperature of lava was over a thousand degrees, and there was a limit to how much heat Undine can shield them from.

Suddenly, Kratos felt that there was something wrong with this situation. Somehow, Efreet had figured out that he had asked Undine to shield them from the volcano's heat, and had purposely raised the temperature of the cavern. But that was not all. Efreet had not attacked right after raising the lava columns. Having a bad feeling about this, the summoner glanced around the cavern in search of the summon spirit. But even after looking all around him, Kratos wasn't able to find Efreet. Just at that moment, the summoner felt fire mana flowing towards one direction. Quickly turning in that direction and seeing a lava column there, Kratos realised that Efreet had hid himself behind it. That was why he couldn't find the red giant. But by that time, it was already too late. Efreet executed his spirit magic and gained the upper hand.

"Fire Storm!" Efreet declared and fire rained down all around the two angels. But instead of hitting them, the spell surrounded the two seraphim and Efreet instead, as if marking the boundaries of their battlefield. Whether they liked it or not, there was no way to run, and this in turn, also limited the area in which they could fight.

"Kratos..." Yuan moaned as he felt himself wavering. "It's getting too hot..."

Kratos knew that Yuan was right. If they do not defeat Efreet quickly, they will eventually faint from the heat.

OoOoOoO

They were wearing out from the monster attacks fast. They were all tired from fighting off the monsters, and they had only managed to dwindle the numbers to only about three quarters of the original number. Raine had already used almost half of the pineapple gels given to her for her healing spells and Lloyd and the others had almost used up the orange gels, restoring their mana quickly for using their magic and skills. But even if they had an unlimited supply of gels, they would still lose to the enemy called "fatigue" eventually.

Sheena had decided to take on the weaker monsters since her Fire Guardian was able to shoot flame breath attacks which could easily take on more than one monster, damaging them and leaving her alone to fight another monster. But her attacks weren't as quick or strong as they initially were as she was getting tired. But the ninja knew she had to hold out for as long as she could before collapsing from exhaustion. After killing a Man-Eater Blossom, Sheena quickly chewed an orange gel and went after the next Man-Eater blossom.

Raine proceeded to cast another healing spell after chewing on yet another pineapple gel. Most of her healing were directed at the villagers since they were the ones getting injured the most often, even with Dias and Colette's support. Even Genis and Keele were starting to get tired. But because Keele was an elf, his mana level was higher and regeneration ability was faster when compared to Genis. Right now, the elf and half-elf were rotating between each other in using their spells in an attempt to save on their stock of gels.

Colette executed another Judgment spell at the monsters. But because of her excessive use of her angelic powers, the former Chosen was using up her mana faster than anyone else. Unlike normal magic, where one drew most of his or her mana from their surroundings and minimally from their own body, angelic magic and skills used ones body's own mana. That was partly one reason why an angel's mana regeneration ability was faster than that of a normal person, or someone using a normal exsphere, an effect brought about by the power of a Cruxis Crystal. Stuffing an orange gel into her mouth, Colette started throwing her chakrams in an attempt to cover Dias and the villagers as they attacked while letting her body's own mana regenerate a bit before throwing out another angelic magic.

Dias struck down yet another Man-Eater Blossom with a few quick slashes from his twin short swords. However, the half-elf had battled continuously for too long and he wasn't able to dodge as quickly. If it weren't for Raine's continuos healing, he might have been seriously injured at this point, and some of the villagers might have died from fighting the monsters. Right now, Dias was saving his stronger attacks, which require mana, for the stronger monsters and simply slashing the weaker ones with his fire mana enchanted twin weapons. It took a longer time to kill the monster of course, due to the protection placed on it which made the monster take very little damage from his attacks. But right now, it was sufficient since their job was simply to hold out against them and survive, not kill them all at the cost of ones life.

Lloyd simply went through the monsters almost without stopping to rest at all. Wielding the Flamberge and Vorpal Sword skillfully, Lloyd simply randomly slashed at monsters, occasionally combining his special attacks with his slashes on the stronger ones. Although the dual swordsman was getting a bit tired, his determination kept him going, knowing that his father and Yuan would be back at any time. And until that happened, he had to keep on going for as long as he needed. Lloyd wasn't about to let his father, who was counting on him and the others to protect the villagers and their home while he was gone, down. Crossing his swords, Lloyd leapt into the air and used Rising Falcon, diving into a weakened Dryad, defeating the monster with that blow.

It had taken at least three villagers and one half-elven mage of Serant to take out a Parasite. But regardless, it was still helpful. It was one less monster to worry about afterall. Even if they were weak, the villagers were all trying their best to protect their home. Yuan's story had motivated them to set aside their differences and work together to protect the place of their birth. The Vinethea's speech and actions, together with the two angels' words and actions, were enough to convince the humans that the half-elves' presence weren't the cause of their recent problem with the monster attacks.

Right now, everyone were fighting desperately, trying the best they can to hold out against the monsters until both Kratos and Yuan returned.

OoOoOoO

Kratos collapsed with one knee on the ground, his arm resting on his other raised knee, holding onto his sword that was stuck to the floor of the cavern with both hands for support. The summoner managed to spare a glance to see how Yuan was doing and noticed that the half-elf was in a similar position as he was, holding onto his double-bladed polearm for support. Yuan seemed to be rapidly blinking his eyes and panting slightly, trying his best not to faint from the heat. Even the heat had started getting to him and Kratos could faint at any moment too.

"Kratos...we need to do something...quick..." Yuan muttered as his eyes closed on him once more. Then shaking his head hard, the half-elf shook himself awake once more.

"If I can at least get rid of Efreet's Fire Storm magic..." Kratos muttered through gritted teeth. "At least the cavern would cool down a bit..."

Gathering all his thoughts together, Kratos, with extreme concentration and willpower, slowly stood up with the support of his sword. Then, raising his left hand, palm facing the ceiling of the cavern with his right still holding onto the hilt of the Last Fencer, the summoner started gathering mana. Or rather, tried to. After a few seconds of nothing, Kratos gasped out, just loud enough for Yuan to hear. Just then, the heat got to him again and the angel collapsed, back into the position he was before he stood up.

"Kratos...what's wrong?" Yuan managed to choke out. His long lock of hair was now stuck on his face, covering his right eye and the half-elf didn't even bother moving it behind his ear.

"I can't gather water mana..." Kratos replied as he shook his head. "I cannot use Undine's spirit magic...to counter Efreet's Fire Storm..."

"How did that happen?" Yuan asked, shaking his head slowly, trying to keep from fainting once again. "Mana don't just disappear like that..."

"Efreet's excessive use of fire mana to use his spell barrage just now must have caused it..." Kratos replied as he closed his eyes for a while, trying to think. "Now, with all the lava columns and Fire Storm, all that fire mana must have erased all traces of water mana from the air, kind of like with too much heat, it evaporates all the water away..." Then he opened his eyes quickly as he felt himself almost fainting from the heat.

"What does that mean?" Yuan said just as he managed to gather enough strength and turned to look at Kratos. "That means we can't win?"

Kratos was at a loss as to what to do. Without any traces of water mana in his surroundings, the summoner would not be able to use Tsunami, Undine's summon spirit magic, which was able to cancel Efreet's summon spirit magic, Fire Storm, from the cavern. There were slight traces of water mana on the Last Fencer though, thanks to the aquamarine, but it wasn't enough to cast Tsunami. But that amount of mana was enough to summon Undine, his only other alternative to cancel off Efreet's Fire Storm, as his Spirit Sphere was able to convert other types of mana into the appropriate mana for summoning, as long as there was a small source of it around, even if it was from a weapon enchanted with that particular mana. But it could only be done for summoning, and not casting magic as the Spirit Sphere only aided in summoning and not spell casting. But right now, Kratos could not summon Undine. He would have to ask the water maiden to lift her protection on them, the only thing that had kept them from fainting from the heat up until now. If he asked Undine to remove her protection right now, they would collapse from the heat immediately, which would mean an instant loss for this battle.

"What's wrong? Can't fight back?" Efreet taunted. "Don't tell me that this is the best you can do? I seem to remember that your resolve to gain my power in order to stop the Kharlan War was stronger than this during your first battle against me. And yet now, you can't beat me when I use my true strength? Have you grown weaker instead of stronger? Or have you not gotten stronger at all? Don't tell me that high summon with Undine at that time was a fluke?"

Kratos wondered. Had that battle with Efreet been a fluke? Or was it just him? The summoner didn't know. What was the reason he had abandoned the others without saying anything to them just to come after Efreet? Wasn't it to save Serant? Kratos didn't know anymore. That was what he had thought at first when he just left and came in search of Efreet, abandoning the battle just outside of Serant. Somehow, the summoner felt that it wasn't the real reason he had come in search of Efreet. But if that wasn't the real reason he had come, then what was the real reason? Kratos had suddenly found himself asking that question.

"At a loss as to what to do?" Efreet continued, not caring whether he was putting the high summoner in a difficult position, or leaving him in a state of confusion. The Summon Spirit of Fire knew that if this high summoner before him was going to go against the crisis facing the world, Kratos would have to know and always remember what he truly was fighting for. Just like that time more than 4000 years ago when the angel had challenged the red giant. If not, Kratos would not be able to release the true ferocity and power of high summoning, for this enemy they would be facing was far more powerful than even Mithos.

Yuan could no longer just stand by and let Efreet say whatever he wanted to his best friend, no matter what the summon spirit's intentions for saying them were. Gritting his teeth, the half-elf, with the willpower he never knew he possessed, stood up, gripping Gungnir tightly with his hands. With a yell, Yuan rushed forward towards Efreet, spinning his weapon above him as he ran. As the half-elf reached the lava column that Efreet was hiding behind, Yuan struck mercilessly at it with a series of spin-slashes using both blades of his weapon.

"Clashing Spiral!"

Using that attack, Yuan scattered the lava column that Efreet was hiding behind. Then leaping over the magma pool where the lava used for the column came from, the half-elf swung his weapon downwards, slamming the ground in front of Efreet, leading into another one of his special attacks.

"Grave Explosion!"

An explosion of spikes erupted from the ground, piercing into the Summon Spirit of Fire. Efreet was so surprised by the stunt that Yuan pulled that he was completely unprepared for it. Raising his arms in defense, the red giant tried to defend against Yuan's continuos slashes which came right after the half-elf's Grave Explosion. But the angel was attacking him so relentlessly that Efreet was unable to even find an opening to counter.

"What the...!"

"You think I would just sit around and let you say all those things to Kratos?" Yuan yelled, his voice echoing through the cavern. "I will not let you say anything to him that's not true! Trying to confuse him? He came to challenge you in order to save Serant! And nothing more!"

"If you think it's that simple, then you're mistaken!" Efreet roared as he finally swung one of his fists, trying to hit Yuan. But the half-elf had raised Gungnir quickly in response to that, blocking the summon spirit's fist. "Right now, it is more than just trying to save Serant, and his heart knows it!"

"You think I'm going to believe that?" Yuan cried just as he spun his weapon again, performing another Clashing Spiral at Efreet.

"It doesn't matter whether you believe it or not," Efreet replied calmly as he swung his fist at Yuan again right after his attack, only to have it blocked again. "It's a matter of whether he realises it or not."

"I'm not going to listen to anymore of that!" Yuan cried as he suddenly realised that the heat was affecting him again. But the half-elf still refused to give up anyway. "I will take you down alone if I have to, because I know that both he and I want to save Serant!"

"Then, so be it!" Efreet roared as he spun both fists at Yuan, which managed to make the half-elf stagger slightly.

Kratos watched the battle unfold before him. The summoner was quite surprised that Yuan had managed to stand up. Kratos knew that Yuan's willpower wasn't quite as strong as his, but then, there were times where the half-elf displayed it when it was needed. And this was one of those times. Listening in on the conversation, Kratos realised that Yuan had thought that Efreet had said all those things in order to confuse him. But the summoner knew it was not true. Whatever the Summon Spirit of Fire had said to him, was the truth.

Just what was the real reason that he had come seeking Efreet? Kratos had been trying to figure it out for the past few minutes. It was during times like these that he wished that someone would say something that would help him, help him figure out just what was wrong. Given Yuan's current state of mind, the half-elf wouldn't be helpful for it right now.

_"Father, what should I do?"_

_Whenever you feel lost while fighting a summon spirit and it seems that the summon spirit is impossible to defeat, always remember the vow which you will make to the summon spirit, for that will always make you remember what you are truly fighting for. It will always clear all doubts and confusion about you and give you the strength to defeat the summon spirit._

_"Wait a minute..."_ Kratos thought to himself in silence. _"The advice that my father gave me when I passed the test to become a high summoner...always remember your vow..."_ It was then everything fell into place.

_"If you ask me, the children are the ones that are suffering the most right now."_ Dias had commented on that when they were discussing about the monster attacks yesterday. Perhaps...that itself, was the real answer. The answer to the real reason he had come for Efreet, the real reason he was desperate to save Serant.

_That's right. The children. It is often said that the children are the future...our future. I should know, I'm a parent myself. I was so happy and proud when Lloyd was born that day. I knew that he would make me proud of him one day. And he did. He had defeated Mithos and reunited the two worlds, his heart was everything mine used to be, and right now, I am slowly becoming the person I was once again during the Kharlan War. The one who's heart had never wavered. The one who had kept the team together during the Kharlan War, the one who had kept our ideals and promises true, together with the ever so pure and innocent Martel. _

_There is no doubt about it. The real reason I wanted Efreet's power once again. In order to protect the future. Right now, it is to protect the children and the people of Serant, so that they would have a future. The Giant Tree is slowly, but surely, dying. I want to protect it, and in turn, protect the world and the future. Not just the future of Serant, but the future of the world. The future of everything. Even though the world is filled with darkness and hate, but no matter what, there will also always be light and love, and things that will always be worth protecting. Even though there was no way I could ever age, but at the very least, I can protect this world, for as long as I live, even if it meant to do it forever. _

_And this is something that I must not forget ever again. As my journey continues, I must never forget that. And I know that Yuan will always be with me all the way. That's for sure. That silly half-elf had always kept his promises to me. Afterall, no matter what happens, we will always be best friends, forever. _

_Lloyd, Yuan...it's people like you that are giving me strength, the strength to remember the strength which I used to possess. The strength that had belonged to me. The person named Kratos Aurion, a high summoner of Polaris, son of Krulen Aurion, one of the greatest high summoners that had ever lived._

Turning back to face the battle that was currently going on between Yuan and Efreet, Kratos noticed that the half-elf was in trouble. After his initial burst of strength, which had taken Efreet by surprise, had died down. The heat was affecting Yuan's fighting prowess, even though the half-elf was still trying his best to bring the red giant down. Kratos quickly closed his eyes for a few seconds in order to get his focus in. Then opening them and gripping onto the hilt of the Last Fencer, the summoner stood up, yanked his sword from the ground, and dashed towards the place where half-elf and summon spirit were fighting.

_"It is time for me to take the stage,"_ Kratos thought to himself with renewed confidence and strength, brushing his wet bangs out of his eyes at the same time.

Yuan was desperately trying to find an opening to strike Efreet. After his initial chain of attacks, which had taken Efreet by surprise, the half-elf's movements were slowing down due to the heat present in the cavern. This had gained the summon spirit the upper hand, and it was his turn to strike back at Yuan. The half-elf so far had managed to block Efreet's attacks, but just then, the red giant swung his fists downwards, slamming the floor, causing an explosion which blasted Yuan against the cavern wall. Efreet then charged the half-elf, with the intent of giving a blow which would knock the angel out.

_"This is it...huh?"_ Yuan wondered to himself. He was too tired to move, let alone block the attack. _"Kratos...I know you can beat Efreet...I guess, it's up to you now..."_

Yuan did not even bother closing his eyes. But before Efreet's fist made contact, the glint of a sword had come in between Efreet's fist and Yuan's body, blocking the attack. Then, before Efreet could react, Kratos raised his other hand and released earth mana in the form of a spell at the summon spirit.

"Grave!"

Grey spikes rose beneath Efreet, piercing into the summon spirit. Just as the spell ended, Kratos shot a Crescent Wave at the red giant, blowing him back.

"Are you sure you should be using earth magic around here?" Efreet said as he recovered from the attack, staring at the half-panting Kratos, holding his sword at ready, standing guard in front of Yuan, who was trying his best not to faint from the heat. "Aren't you afraid that the volcano may erupt?"

"Don't try to fool me, Efreet," Kratos replied ever so calmly. "This volcano is dormant. Unless there is a huge shift of both fire and earth mana at the same time, it won't erupt."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Your reckless use of fire mana just now, and the summoning of the lava columns. These are actions that would have caused an active volcano to erupt. You wouldn't have done that if you knew that this was an active volcano," Kratos replied, smirking slightly at Efreet. "Also, Yuan's Grave Explosion skill uses quite a lot of earth mana. Again, that in itself would have caused the volcano to erupt, _if_ it was an active volcano. He must have noticed it and used it against you due to the absence of water mana in the air."

"Kratos..." Yuan whispered softly. The half-elf knew that the summoner's angelic hearing would be able to pick up his whispers. "I still can fight a bit longer..."

_"Don't worry, I got it covered..."_ Kratos replied telepathically to Yuan, not moving nor shifting his eyes off Efreet.

_"Now that's what I like to hear,"_ Yuan returned the reply via telepathy himself. _"That's the Kratos I know."_

_"Right, the Kratos you know from during the times of the Kharlan War."_

_"Yeah, that Kratos,"_ Yuan replied tiredly, seemingly glad at the same time.

"The two of you are pretty impressive, I must say," Efreet commented. "But in the end, this victory still belongs to me. You won't last much longer in this heat, although I must commend that you two had lasted quite long against it."

"No, Efreet. This victory belongs to us," Kratos replied, undaunted by Efreet's threats. The summoner had said it with such confidence that even Yuan was convinced that they would win, despite the odds against them. "And this will be my final blow."

"Overconfidence is not a good trait to have," Efreet taunted once more, trying to make the high summoner before him falter again.

"We shall see, won't we?"

With that, Efreet charged. Kratos just stood there, not moving from his spot nor making a single move. He just stood there. Efreet thought the summoner before him was crazy, but he didn't care. If Kratos' words were true, it would mean that the summoner deserved his power and there might actually be a chance to save the world. If it wasn't, then maybe the world was destined to be destroyed afterall.

Just as Efreet was about to swing his fist at Kratos in order to cause an explosion that would knock both angels out, the summoner raised his left hand and swung it to his left, causing a strong wave of mana to sweep the summon spirit back. His Spirit Sphere was glowing silently as he did that and earth mana started gathering around him, causing a brown ring to surround the summoner.

"With my stature as a high summoner, by the oath which I have sworn to the Summon Spirits, and by the bond which we have made through our pact, I lend you my heart's strength, to release thy true power!" Kratos recited as the earth mana that had gathered intensified.

Yuan looked up at the figure of his best friend. Being so near to Kratos while he was performing a high summon had made him feel the intensity and strength that was gathered within that one summon. The half-elf never knew the power of the heart could be that strong, especially the one belonging to the human in front of him. Kratos had always been able to get back up and remained strong, no matter what happened. Even when he had lost his family, Kratos still managed to remain strong despite all odds. Yuan could only imagine how the angel had felt when he betrayed Lloyd and his companions at the Tower of Salvation five years ago. It must have been very painful for him. Any normal human would have broke down on that, but he didn't. Yuan only regretted not being able to figure him out sooner. When Anna was alive, Yuan knew that Kratos had wanted to reunite the two worlds, just as he did. But because he was the Origin Seal, the half-elf had did some research, trying to find a way to save his life when the time came to release the seal, which he did. But tragedy had befallen them, which had caused Kratos to push Yuan away. It was only fourteen years later the half-elf found out that Kratos did it in order to protect him, in order to bid his time to act, which ended up being Kratos' final betrayal to Mithos. At least everything had worked out in the end, for which Yuan was glad.

"I call upon the Servant of Mother Earth! I summon thee, Gnome!" Kratos called just as the golden-colored summoning crest appeared before him and Gnome materialised in front of the summoner. "Protect us with the Power of Mother Earth..." Kratos continued just as Gnome summoned spikes all around them, erasing Efreet's Fire Storm spell and cancelled the lava columns which Efreet had summoned all too easily. "...and crush everything that would bring harm! Crushing Grave!"

Gnome raised his hand at Efreet and threw a wave at the red giant's direction, calling more spikes from beneath the summon spirit. Each brown spike pierced Efreet, not giving the summon spirit a chance to escape. Several more spikes later, the spikes that had appeared around them broke apart and fell to ground, leaving several rocks on the ground. Bringing his left hand down back to the hilt of the Last Fencer, Kratos remained ready for any moves Efreet might pull. Gnome then disappeared in a swirl of brown mana, high summon complete, the golden-colored summoning crest dissipating from beneath Kratos.

Efreet slowly rose to his feet, or rather, his tail like appendage, floating above the ground once more, regarding the high summoner before him seriously. Kratos remained vigilant, not letting his guard down. Yuan slowly stood up with the support of his weapon, at the ready to aid his human friend. The half-elf didn't care how tired he was right now. Kratos needed Efreet's power right now to save Serant, and no matter what, he would do everything in his power to make sure the summoner gets it.

"Very good, you remember," Efreet commented, crossing his arms seemingly in approval. "Now, speak your vow."

Yuan blinked once or twice in surprise. _"What just happened?"_ Yuan found himself wondering.

Kratos eased his battle stance, sheathed his sword and turned to regard the Summon Spirit of Fire with a serious expression on his face. "Before I do, what did you mean by we can save Serant with that bond of ours?"

"Before I answer your question, do you have any idea what 'bond' am I talking about?"

Kratos turned to face Yuan, as if searching for the answer. Thanks to Kratos' high summon, the cavern was cooling down once more and Undine's power was enough to shield them from the natural heat present in the cave. Realising that this battle was over, Yuan quickly put away his weapon. While trying to look for the answer to Efreet's question, the summoner noticed that Yuan had suffered minor injuries during his solo fight against Efreet just now. Raising his hands, Kratos used Faerie Heal on the half-elf, clearing him of all wounds. The summoner then thought back to Efreet's compliments from just before the summon spirit had commented on their 'bond'. They had displayed exceptional teamwork between the two of them, making use of each other's attacks effectively, not hindering the other. And it wasn't from the fact that they had too much time to practice fighting together. It was because they had shared a strong bond with each other. The bond known as 'friendship'. It was so strong that nothing seemed to be able to break it, no matter what happened. They understood each other so well that they could fight without even communicating to each other, nor hinder the other's movements.

"The ties that which bind the two of us together..." Kratos replied slowly, without turning to look at Efreet. "Our friendship..." It was then the high summoner turned to address the Summon Spirit of Fire once again. "It is true that our friendship as a human and a half-elf is able to counter the protection placed on the monsters and the demon as it is the opposite of the hate that had been used to create that shield, but I can only high summon with my feelings alone, and not both of ours. How is that supposed to save Serant?"

"Oh, but you're mistaken," Efreet replied, shaking his head in disagreement. "You _can_ high summon with the feelings of more than one person."

"Efreet..." Kratos replied, disbelieving with what the red giant had said. "I don't understand..."

"You have Verius' power, correct?" Efreet asked. The summon spirit couldn't believe that Kratos did not know this, but then, he couldn't blame the summoner, could he? Afterall, Verius' power had been lost for more than 5000 years. Efreet shouldn't be surprised that no one would remember that.

Kratos only nodded silently in reply.

"The emerald," Efreet continued, satisfied with Kratos' gesture for an answer. "It has the ability to draw power from the heart. If you wear the emerald and perform a high summon with it on, you will not be limited to just using the strength from your own heart. The strength of the heart of others will also be used to aid you, especially if they share the same feelings as you at that point in time. This in turn, will strengthen the power of your high summons."

"The emerald..." Kratos whispered as he took out the ring with said green-colored gem attached to it, staring at it. "So...this is the power of the emerald..." The summoner then turned back to regard Efreet once again. "If I perform a high summon with this using our bond as friends, it will double it's power, will it not?"

"With more people, the high summon itself will also become more powerful, but it's overall power output will still depend on the strength gathered. As your bond with each other as friends are unbreakable, the power of your high summon will always be doubled, no matter the circumstance, as you understand each other so well that your feelings are essentially the same."

"Kratos..." Yuan muttered. "I...we..."

"We can save Serant...just as your feelings had reached the humans and half-elves of Serant, our feelings will dispel all hate that had gathered," Kratos replied, turning to address Yuan, confident that they could do it. "We can do this."

Yuan nodded. "Yeah, we can do this."

"Very good. Perhaps there really is hope for this world afterall," Efreet remarked in approval. "Now quickly, speak your vow."

Kratos turned once again to face Efreet, taking a deep breath at the same time. "I vow to protect this world for as long as I live, in order to ensure that tomorrow will always exist."

"I shall bestow upon you my raging inferno once again, High Summoner Kratos," Efreet replied, nodding for the umpteenth time. With that, the summon spirit disappeared in a swirl of red light, and in its place, a sphere-shaped red-colored gem slowly floated down into Kratos' left hand. It was a garnet, the proof of the pact with the Summon Spirit of Fire.

Staring at both the garnet and emerald, Kratos closed both his hands, securing both gems in them tightly. Quickly putting the garnet into his pouch, the summoner opened his right hand which contained the emerald, and proceeded to put it on. Then turning once more to Yuan, the angel nodded in his direction and quickly took off towards the exit of the underground volcano, the half-elf close behind. They knew they had to hurry, as they had no idea how much longer the others were able to hold out against the monsters that were almost invincible and in much larger numbers than they were.

OoOoOoO

Their prowess was slowly waning. The battle had gone on for too long and even the power from Kratos' angelic magic was disappearing and they hadn't even reduced the monster numbers to anywhere close to half. Colette was probably the first one to notice that as her angelic powers were weaker than before. It was getting hard for Raine to keep her healing. She was already out of pineapple gels and was digging into her own stash of orange gels to keep her mana up for healing. But the half-elven healer was already very exhausted. She had never kept her healing magic up for that long before, not even during their battle against Mithos. But then, at that time, she had Kratos' own healing to help. But not this time.

Genis fell to the ground, arms supporting his body, panting, his One World kendama still in his hand. He had already used up almost all of his mana, and if the half-elven mage used anymore of it, he would surely put his own life in danger, thus Genis had no choice but to stop his attacks for now. It was also at times like these that Keele was glad for the extra mana levels which came from being of pure-elven blood. The elf quickly bombed the monsters with more Explosion spells, as much as he could cast before he had the need to rest for a bit. This also gave time for Genis to recuperate.

Colette gave up using her angelic magic against the enemies and went back to tossing her chakrams at them instead, which together with the half-elven mages of Serant, forming a distraction for Dias and the other denizens taking the front. Even Dias had noticed that his attacks had weakened and knew that even Kratos' power would last only that long.

Lloyd and Sheena where surrounded by a small group of monsters with their backs against each other. The ninja quickly raised her hand, recalling her Fire Guardian back into the form of a card, then tossing it at the monsters in front of her, re-summoning the Guardian, wiping out a small group of Willows. Lloyd used Sword Rain on a Parasite that was just in front of him, defeating the already weakened monster.

"Hey, Sheena," Lloyd started just as they rested in between their attacks. "Have you noticed? Kratos' power is no longer strengthening us?"

"Yeah," Sheena replied, as she pointed the Fire Guardian towards a small group of Mandrakes, burning them to a crisp. "It's not only that, Genis and Keele, they are barely able to hold up their magic. And Raine won't be able to keep up her healing much longer."

"Colette is also no longer using her angelic magic, and the villagers, they are barely holding up," Lloyd replied as he sliced up a Willow that had leapt towards his direction.

"And yet they keep going, because they want to protect their home," Sheena replied solemnly, holding up a card and called upon a special magic circle, letting out a mana blast, slamming right into a Dryad. "Simply amazing, aren't they."

"Yeah, they are," Lloyd nodded in agreement as he used Demon Fang on a lone Mandrake. "And we have to keep going too."

"Hey, Lloyd," Sheena asked, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "Do you think they will be back before we lose?"

"I know they will," Lloyd replied with confidence in his voice. "Like Yuan said, I need have faith in my dad and trust him more. And I will. I know they'll be back anytime soon, and then, they will save Serant."

"Clinging to one small hope, ain't you Lloyd?" Sheena laughed. "But that's what I like about you. Never giving up no matter what."

But Lloyd wasn't paying attention to the ninja. The dual swordsman had noticed a shadow swooping past them on the ground, and had turned to look up into the sky. The Vinethea was finally making its move, and Lloyd wasn't liking the direction the demon was going. It was heading straight for Raine! Gripping his swords tightly, Lloyd quickly rushed towards the half-elven healer to protect her, leaving Sheena with the remaining monsters. Sheena frowned when the Eternal Swordsman did that, but she knew that Lloyd must have had his reasons for doing that. Whatever reason it was, the ninja knew that it must be a good one, and she didn't even bother turning around to see what it was. Shifting the position of her Fire Guardian, it bombarded them with a steady stream of fire. This was going to be a little draining on her mana though, but with Lloyd gone, she had to make up for the lack of the red-clad swordsman's backup.

The Vinethea had grown tired of waiting. Deciding to attack the one that had been keeping its enemies and the villagers alive, it flew straight towards the group's healer, Raine Sage, with the intent of taking her out. Then at least this would end more quickly. The half-elf was not aware of the danger lurking nearby and got knocked out of her spell when the demon struck her with one of its vines.

Raine quickly got up from Vinethea's initial strike despite her exhaustion. She raised her staff in defense for the demon's next attack, which got her staff wrapped up by the vines instead. Vinethea yanked hard on the vines, toppling Raine over, slamming face first onto the ground. Then it prepared to strike again, but just before the demon could prepare for its next attack, several fire balls came flying, smashing into Vinethea's face. The demon turned to see who had attacked him and noticed that it was another half-elf with silverish-colored hair just like Raine.

"Leave my sister alone, you demon!" Genis yelled. Although he was very tired, the half-elven mage managed to dig out a little bit of mana to get Vinethea's attention. Growling, the demon tried going after the young mage, but was stopped short as a Flame Lance spell came crashing into it. Growling and turning once again, it saw that Keele was the one that had released that spell on it. The demon thought that it would have been easy to bring the healer down, but didn't quite count on anyone else noticing.

By this time, Lloyd had reached the location of the trio of spell casters. With the speed he had gathered, the swordsman leapt up into the air and performed Omega Tempest, spinning into the Vinethea, slashing it. Then landing on the ground, Lloyd glared dangerously at the demon, waiting for its next move.

Growling in anger, the Vinethea attacked Lloyd with a myriad of vines, which the swordsman countered with a Demonic Circle. Reeling its vines back in pain, the demon growled in anger. Stepping beside the red-clad swordsman, Keele released another Flame Lance spell at the Vinethea, serving to make the demon even angrier. Their attacks were beginning to do lesser damage than before as the power from Kratos' spell completely disappeared. The Vinethea noticed this and smirked.

"It seems like your strength is back to normal," The Vinethea laughed. "So, even the power of an angel has its limits, eh?"

"When my dad get's back, you are soooo dead," Lloyd growled, not intimidated by the demon's threats at all.

"You think he'll even come back? He probably ran away with his friend to save himself, leaving all of you behind," The demon sneered.

Now that was a bad remark on Vinethea's part. Lloyd, gritting and growling in anger, crossed both the Flamberge and Vorpal Sword together and charged the demon. "Do not speak ill of my dad!" Lloyd yelled just as his two swords merged as one, calling forth the Eternal Sword. Then leaping high up into the sky, the Eternal Swordsman concentrated his power into the Eternal Sword, slashing the demon. "Tenshou Souhazan!" Bringing Vinethea down with his attack, the plant demon landed with a loud crash onto the ground, Lloyd's sword slamming into it. Just then, a crest type circle appeared below Vinethea, blasting it with the power of space. After he was done, Lloyd gripped the Eternal Sword tightly and glared at the demon dangerously.

"That sword..." Vinethea managed to gasp out. It got seriously injured from Lloyd's technique, and was struggling to get up. But before he did however, Keele fired an Explosion spell at the demon, blasting it back down.

Just when they thought they had Vinethea cornered, a Dryad had sneaked up behind Lloyd and Keele, throwing out its vines, wrapping both human and elf up. This gave Vinethea the chance to take off into the air, retreating all the way, right behind the monsters that remained, where no one could reach it easily.

"This is one time I should have listened to my dad's advice," Lloyd grumbled, trying to shift the Eternal Sword in his hand to cut away the Dryad's vines.

"And that would be?" Keele asked out of curiosity, deciding that he was unable to concentrate on gathering mana for a spell to help them get free.

"Never let your guard down, especially if there are more than one enemy," Lloyd replied, sighing.

"Air Thrust!" Blades of wind appeared at the vines of the Dryad, slashing them into pieces, freeing both Lloyd and Keele. Quickly thanking Genis, who collapsed on the ground panting once again, Lloyd charged the Dryad before it could recuperate. Eternal Sword still in hand, the swordsman called upon the power of space and quickly gave it a series of quick slashes, ending with a Sword Rain, defeating it all too easily.

"Is that the strength of the Eternal Sword?" Keele asked, surprised that Lloyd managed to take out the Dryad all too quickly.

"Only if I use the power of space together with my attacks," Lloyd replied as he took in a deep breath and split the Eternal Sword back into the Flamberge and Vorpal Sword. "But it is very draining on my mana..."

Seeing no immediate danger, Lloyd quickly ran to where Genis and Raine were. Keele quickly stepped back into battle, with the intent of aiding Sheena with his magic. Lloyd knelt down on the ground, not letting go of his swords.

"Professor, Genis, are the two of you alright?"

"I'm okay..." Genis replied, adjusting his position so that he was sitting down. "I'm just tired and almost out of mana..."

"I'm afraid I only have enough strength for one more healing spell..." Raine replied solemnly, gripping her staff tightly as she sat up also. "Also, this is about as much gels my body can take within such a short period of time. If Kratos and Yuan don't return before then..."

"We can't give up! I know he will return on time!" Lloyd cried, gripping the hilt of his swords tightly.

"Having a lot of faith in him, ain't you, Lloyd?" Raine replied tiredly.

"How can I not have faith in him?" Lloyd replied, almost in a murmur. "He's my dad..."

"At least he's dependable...unlike mine..." Raine whispered softly, followed by silence between the swordsman and the Sage siblings.

"Professor!" A voice called out, breaking the silence between the trio. Turning to see who it was, they realised that it was Colette flying towards them. "The villagers need healing! Dias is barely holding back the monsters from them!"

"So, this is it, huh?" Raine muttered as she stood up. Raising her staff, the half-elven healer started gathering mana. A white-colored mana ring surrounded her as she concentrated. "Since this is my last spell, might as well make it a good one!" Muttering an incantation in elven, the mana around the scholar intensified as she raced to complete her spell. "Spirits that dance in the air, resound in a chorus of holy exorcism! Heavenly protection to us, and punishment to those that oppose us!" A huge circle began to form all around, encasing both allies and enemies alike, just as the healer finished her spell. "Faerie Circle!" Raine declared. Healing mana filled the villagers and her companions while the monsters all took holy damage from Raine's spell. Although it didn't really prove to do much damage, it managed to defeat a few already weakened Mandrakes and Willows, reducing the number of monsters further.

"This is the best I can do..." Raine whispered as she collapsed, slowly drifting off to sleep.

"Lloyd, what are we going to do?" Genis asked as he bit his lower lip.

"We'll just do the best we can," Lloyd replied, gritting his teeth. "Stay with Raine and rest, Genis. And Colette, protect the both of them, I'll go help the villagers."

"Okay, Lloyd!" Colette replied, nodding.

Lloyd rushed towards where Dias and the villagers were fighting, bringing down an already weakened Parasite on the way. Stopping side by side the twin blade, the dual swordsman addressed the half-elf while fighting.

"Raine won't be able to heal us anymore. The villagers should retreat."

A few of the villagers heard what Lloyd had said and immediately protested. "This is our home! We have the right to protect it! There is no way we're going to retreat!"

"But you will be in danger if you continue to fight!" Lloyd argued back. He was about to say something else when Dias stopped the red-clad swordsman.

"Once they've made up their mind about protecting their home, they won't change their mind. Every single one of them here, they're all willing to give up their lives to protect this place. It is the same as giving up their lives for their children so that they will be able to continue to live here."

Lloyd was completely silent. He knew how important this place was to the people living here. Afterall, this was the place where they were born and grew up at, and it they would do everything in their power to protect their home. Lloyd had a home too, and he too would give his all to protect it. It was the same as doing his best to protect his friends and those that were important to him. "I won't be able to protect all of you..."

"It's okay," one of the villagers had spoken. "We won't blame you if you can't protect all of us. Afterall, you are not a god but a human who can't do everything. As long as you know you've done your best, it's enough."

Lloyd didn't know what to say. These villagers were stronger than the swordsman had given them credit for. But Lloyd wasn't able to think for long. Dias suddenly flew past him, nearly crashing into the villagers. Almost in an instant, Lloyd snapped to face the direction the half-elf had come from. Quickly slashing away the vine that had been thrown at him, Lloyd rushed the Parasite that had attacked the twin blade. Since it was already weakened, the dual swordsman was able to dispose of it quickly.

Once more, the villagers charged while the half-elven mages continued to stay behind to cast their spells. Lloyd was quite surprised that their combined might managed to bring down a few monsters in the process. Dias quickly got back up and went after another monster, but stopped short when he noticed something in the air. The Vinethea had recovered from Lloyd and Keele's assault from just now and was back. This time, it seemed to have decided to target the villagers. Charging a mana blast, it got ready to fire. Fearing for the worst, the twin blade quickly yelled for the villagers to run. But it was too late. The demon fired its charged blast at them.

However, before the beam hit the villagers, Lloyd had came in between it and the villagers. Crossing his swords, the swordsman executed Guardian in an attempt to block the blast. The beam hit Lloyd's shield head on, slowly pushing him back. Not able to hold out much longer, the dual swordsman finally got blasted back, but had successfully blocked the attack from making it to the villagers. However, Lloyd did not get off unscathed. Part of the beam had hit him, and the swordsman was injured. It was a bit straining on him as he tried to get up.

Dias growled angrily at the Vinethea's sneaky and cowardly methods of attacking. Drawing a few of his throwing knives, the twin blade charged them with fire mana and tossed it at the Vinethea. Roaring in anger, it struck out at the half-elf with a vine, knocking Dias back.

"Mr! Are you okay?"

"Don't worry about me..." Lloyd muttered as he continued trying to get up. "I've got hit worse and I managed to survive..."

"That demon will pay for using dirty tricks!" One of the villagers declared, then charged. Lloyd managed to sit up on time to see the scene before him. Dias had yelled for the villagers not to engage the demon but they ignored the half-elf's warnings. Smirking, Vinethea tossed out vines at the charging villagers of Serant, swatting them away like flies, injuring them quite badly.

Lloyd gritted his teeth, wondering what to do next, but his mind turned up blank. Raine was out and could no longer heal them or the villagers. There wasn't enough time to administer gels to every single one of them. The dual swordsman watched as Dias tossed more fire enchanted throwing knives at Vinethea. At a loss at what to do and injured himself, Lloyd turned to the sky and offered a silent prayer to whatever god or goddess was out there.

_"Dad! I know you will make it! Cause I believe you will!"_

As if answering his prayer, a white-colored healing circle appeared beneath him, Dias, and the villagers.

"Healing Light!" The caster of the healing spell declared just as it filled them with healing mana, effectively closing most of the wounds they had suffered.

Lloyd turned to look up at the sky and had never been more glad at seeing his father. Crystal blue wings shined behind Kratos, covering the seraph with what seemed to be the most beautiful aura Lloyd had ever seen. "Dad!" The red-clad swordsman cried as he stood up. "You're too slow!"

"I don't need my own son lecturing me now, do I?" Kratos commented before turning his attention to Yuan. White feathers were circling the half-elf angel, indicating that he was gathering angelic mana for an angelic spell. Kratos raised his hand towards the blue-haired half-elf, calling upon angelic mana himself. White feathers surrounded the seraph briefly before letting out his spell. "Blessing!"

A light appeared, surrounding Yuan and enveloping him with a white-colored aura as the half-elf continued with his spell. When it was ready, Yuan threw out both hands, unleashing his angelic magic at the monsters. "Holy light of the heavens, cast your purifying light upon these corrupt souls! Receive Judgment from the heavenly light! Judgment Ray!"

Huge rays of light fell from the sky. Each bolt hit true, blasting everything it hit with a holy power. The bolts of light hit pretty hard, thanks to the added boost from Kratos' Blessing angelic magic, which dramatically increased the power of the next angelic spell Yuan used. The spell managed to kill some of the monsters, a few of them hitting Vinethea, injuring it again, causing it to retreat behind the monsters once more. The demon wasn't even concerned about the two angels' return, not thinking of why they had disappeared, only to return now. It was so sure that it would still win, no matter what.

"Let's do it," Kratos said as he flew up beside Yuan, holding out the hand that was wearing the emerald. The half-elf nodded, taking Kratos' hand into one of his. Lloyd, realising that his father was getting ready to summon Efreet, charged the monsters, making sure none of them attacked the two angels.

"With my stature as a high summoner, by the oath which I have sworn to the Summon Spirits, and by the bond which we have made through our pact, with the power of the Summon Spirit of Heart, we lend you our heart's strength, to release thy true power!" Kratos recited just as the emerald glowed a silent green.

_"Hey, Kratos..." _

_"Hmm?" Kratos replied as he turned to look at the person who had addressed him. That night, it was his turn to take the first watch and was sitting beside the campfire, slowly carving something out of a piece of good wood he had found earlier that day. _

_Yuan crawled up lazily beside the summoner, taking great interest in what he was doing. Mithos and Martel had already went to sleep, lying down beside each other in their sleeping bags. The blue-haired half-elf was unable to sleep as there was something bothering him, and decided to talk to Kratos about it. _

_"Can I talk to you about something?" Yuan asked softly. _

_"What is it?" Kratos replied, silently hoping that it wasn't something like asking him on how to get to sleep easily. _

_"Why do humans and elves hate half-elves? We're not any different from any one of them, right?" _

_Kratos was quite taken aback by the sudden question. The summoner wondered why Yuan had asked something like that out of the blue. Was the half-elf feeling guilty or something? Well, it's true that they had taken great precautions while entering towns, with Kratos usually being the one to get supplies and food for their journey, especially when they came across towns that had a law which stated any half-elf caught would be executed on the spot. _

_"Why the sudden question?" Kratos found himself asking. "Are you feeling guilty or something?" _

_Yuan was at a loss for words. Martel had brought something like this up earlier this morning, about Kratos always being the one going into towns to get supplies and food, just because they were half-elves and it wasn't safe for them to do so. Martel had felt that they were imposing on the human several times, but never brought it up in fear of offending the summoner. Ever since the female half-elf brought it up to him earlier that day, it had been bothering Yuan since. _

_"If anyone of you feel that you're imposing on me, don't," Kratos said, breaking Yuan out of his thoughts. It was as if he had read the half-elf's mind for the summoner to be able to make such a reply when Yuan hadn't even said anything yet. "I came with you guys of my own free will. I'm also doing all that of my own free will. Nothing more. Besides, our goals are the same, aren't they?" _

_Yuan stared at the human just as he resumed his craftwork. Perhaps it wasn't a good idea to have talked to him about it. But if Yuan hadn't said anything, it would have had bothered the half-elf for a long, long time. Having heard Kratos say all that seemed to have brought a feeling of relief and a burden off his shoulders. _

_"If only all humans were like you, Kratos..." Yuan muttered, trailing off. He hadn't meant for the human to hear that, but it was hard for Kratos not to hear it, the both of them being right beside each other and all. _

_"The world is imperfect, Yuan. And it always will be. You can't expect the world to be the way you want it to be. Love, hate, hope, despair, happiness and sadness will always exist. Whether you like it or not, you can't change it, cause it will always exist. Perhaps it is possible to end all discrimination between humans and half-elves, but hate itself will never disappear, cause even humans and half-elves have the capability to hate even their own race. In the end, the only thing you can do is simply to do whatever you can. At least, somewhere in this world, there are always people who share the same feelings as you do." _

_"Argh, all these wise talk from you is getting on my nerves," Yuan muttered, purposely messing up his untied hair. "Where did you learn to talk like that?" _

_"Who knows? I sure as heck don't," Kratos shrugged in reply, not taking his eyes off his craftwork. _

_"Hey, Kratos, we're friends, right?" _

_Kratos nearly wanted smack Yuan for another stupid question like that. "What's wrong with you? You seem to be feeling so insecure today. We've been friends ever since that day you placed your trust in me. Or don't tell me you didn't realise that? Friends trust and help each other, don't they?" _

_"Haha, you're right," Yuan replied sheepishly, scratching his head uneasily. The half-elf had no idea why he had asked that. Was it because of a betrayal by the first human he had ever trusted and wanted a reassurance from Kratos? But then, Yuan had never called that human a friend. Kratos was the first human the half-elf had ever regarded as a friend. Even though Yuan was afraid of another betrayal by a human and had decided not to trust a single one of them anymore, he had given Kratos his trust. Why had he done that? Yuan wasn't too sure himself. Perhaps something inside of him had felt that he could place his trust in Kratos, that's why he had made that decision. "I guess I'm just being paranoid. Friends forever?" _

_"Not forever, but for as long as we live," Kratos corrected, setting down his crafting and turning to eye the half-elf beside him, drawing him into an one-armed embrace. "Best friends for as long as we live." _

_"Is that a promise?" _

_"Yes, it's a promise. And together, we will show the world that even a human and a half-elf can be best friends."_

A ring of red-colored mana began to form around Kratos. Slowly, the mana gathered around the summoner intensified. "I call upon the Red Giant, Ruler of Hellfire! I summon thee, Efreet!" Kratos called just as he had gathered enough mana. The golden-colored summoning crest appeared before both angels and Efreet materialised in front of the both of them. "Grant us your fiery strength..." The summoner continued just as Efreet cast an aura over every single one of Kratos' allies, not inclusive of the villagers of Serant. "...and burn everything down to nothing!"

The Summon Spirit of Fire then raised both of his arms forward, and proceeded to call forth a huge fire storm which engulfed every single monster the red giant could see. Lloyd and the others, together with the villagers of Serant, had retreated just as the flaming display began. The flames continued to dance just as the storm of fire increased in strength.

_"Leave them alone! They're just children for Kharlan's sake!" _

_"So what they're children! They're half-elves! They're nothing but filthy half-elves that shouldn't even exist!" _

_"Every single life on this world has the right to live!" Now that sounded wrong. Especially coming from someone like Yuan. Being around Kratos and Martel too much does have some undesirable effects, the blue-haired half-elf concluded. Now he's starting to talk like some wise man similar to Kratos, or preaching on things like the lives of every single living thing is precious, just like Martel. _

_"No filthy half-elf deserves to live!" One of the three humans that Yuan were confronting in an attempt to protect the half-elven children yelled back. "Don't think we're afraid of you, half-elf! We'll kill you together with those children!" _

_Yuan gritted his teeth as he gathered mana for a spell. Or rather, tried to. In his haste and panic, Yuan had forgotten that he was supposed to use a basic spell in situations like these. The half-elf had accidentally muttered the incantation for a stronger one and got smashed on his chest, right into a wall that was behind him. Yuan's concentration was broken and pain took over his body, with him slowly sliding down the wall into a sitting position. _

_"You half-elves are not so tough when you can't use your magic, eh?" Another one of the three humans mocked the fallen Yuan. The three kids that the half-elven mage were trying to protect all knelt before him, worry written all over their faces. Yuan growled as he tried to get up. The had to defend these kids no matter what. But his body refused to obey, earning the half-elf yet another wave of pain instead. _

_"Die, filthy half-elves!" The humans yelled, then charged. _

_"I call upon the Disciple of Everlasting Ice! I summon thee, Celsius!" _

_The ice-blue figure of Celsius appeared before the charging humans and took them by surprise. The Summon Spirit of Ice quickly charged up her attack, slamming the ground with her palm. A wave of ice shot through the ground, going right through the path of the three humans, instantly freezing the bottom half of their body, halting them in their tracks. _

_"What the hell?" The three humans all cursed at the same time. _

_"Anyone who dares to try and hurt my friend and any friends of his will have me to answer to," a voice snarled, stepping up and revealing himself, just as Celsius disappeared in a swirl of ice-blue mana. _

_The humans continued to curse as they tried to break free of Celsius' ice. One of them managed to break free and quickly charged the newcomer, the person that had interfered with their business. He was more than likely another half-elf, the human concluded. But before the human could reach the newcomer, he stopped dead in his tracks, finding the tip of an orange-colored blade pointed at his throat. _

_The human turned to look up slowly at who had pointed the sword at him, and noticed that it was by the one that had interfered with their business. Upon closer inspection, the human noticed that the one that had came in between them and the half-elves before them did not have short, pointed ears. The tips were round, just like theirs. _

_"You...you're a human!" He gasped at the revelation. _

_"So?" Kratos replied, looking indifferent and unaffected by what the human before him had said. _

_"Humans are supposed to hate half-elves! Not be friends with them!" The human snarled in reply. Without warning, he stepped to the side of Kratos' sword and tried to attack the summoner from the side. But Kratos was too quick for the human. The swordsman smashed the back of the hilt of the Flamberge at the charging human, sending him flying back into his other two companions, breaking the ice which restrained them. _

_"Traitor! You do not deserve to share the same blood as us!" _

_"Do not put Kratos on the same level as you humans!" Yuan roared just as he stood up, despite the pain he was feeling. The half-elf was glaring venomously at the three humans, hands dangerously sparking with lightning mana as he mouthed something under his breath. "He's a human that is a hundred times better than you low-lifes!" Yuan continued as he raised both hands and released his spell at the human trio. "Spark Wave!" _

_A huge ball of pure electricity appeared before them, shocking them into paralysis in just a few seconds. Subsequently, unable to take the shock to their bodies, the three humans merely collapsed, fainted and paralysed by the electricity. Fortunately for them, Yuan controlled the overall output of his spell such that it wasn't fatal, just enough to knock them out. A task such as this was easy for the half-elf. He was, afterall, a master at magic, especially lightning spells. Yuan was exceptionally potent with lightning mana. _

_After Yuan's feat was done, the pain shot through his body once again. The half-elf staggered and felt himself falling towards the ground, but he never hit it. Strong arms wrapped around his body, catching him as he fell. Slowly, Kratos placed the half-elf lying down on the ground and stared at him, observing for any obvious injuries. Kratos knew that Yuan had gotten hit on his chest and his back when he had slammed against the wall just as he found the half-elf. It was then he had prepared to summon Celsius. There was a possibility that Yuan might have fractured his ribs or his back after taking a hit like that, thus the summoner had to be careful. _

_"Big Brother Yuan!" The three children whom the blue-haired half-elf had tried to protect ran up to him. "This human isn't going to hurt you, is he?" _

_Yuan looked up tiredly at the children, and then over at Kratos' concerned face. "Don't worry, he's my best friend..." Yuan trailed off as he slowly closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, knowing very well that he was in good hands._

"Inferno Blaze!"

Efreet's inferno completely engulfed the monsters, cutting through their barrier, doing serious damage to them just as the protection on them lifted. Even the fire storm managed to hit the Vinethea and the barrier on the demon was destroyed. One by one, the monsters all succumbed to the might of Efreet's attack, powered by the friendship between Kratos and Yuan, a human and a half-elf, a power from the heart that was completely opposite to the hate from the discrimination between humans and half-elves that was used to create the protection.

"Hey, Kratos."

"Hmm?"

"I never did say thanks for always looking out for me, did I?"

"There wasn't a need to. I knew."

"You knew?"

"Of course. Because you were looking out for me too."

"I was, wasn't I?" Yuan chuckled.

"Definitely," Kratos smiled in agreement.

Efreet's attack finally ceased. The summon spirit disappeared in swirl of red mana and the golden-colored summoning crest vanished from where the two angels were hovering. After the fire cleared, all it revealed were the slowly disappearing corpses of the dead monsters, their mana slowly dissipating back to the land.

"Wow..." Lloyd muttered. "That was...incredible!"

"That high summon was even more powerful than the one used against Volt..." Genis gasped as he stood up from beside his sleeping sister. "But why?"

"It's the power of their friendship..." Keele muttered. "That high summon wasn't performed with just Kratos' strength alone. It was done with the strength of them both."

"How can you be so sure?" Sheena asked, turning to address the elf.

"Can't you see?" Keele replied, not taking his eyes off the two angels. "The two of them, they were holding hands during the summoning."

"I've always thought that the friendship between Lloyd and I was strong," Genis muttered silently as he looked away and back at his sister. "But looking at them, it feels like our friendship is nothing compared to that. Theirs seem...unbreakable..."

"Genis," Lloyd started just as he went over to the half-elf and drew him into an one-armed embrace. "I'm sure one day our friendship will be like theirs!"

"Lloyd..."

Keele continued gazing upon the two angels, sighed and then looked away. Dias noticed that there seemed to be a tint of jealousy and longing in the eyes belonging to his younger half-brother. Then turning back to the two angels, the twin blade realised that in this world, there truly was a strong friendship forged by a human and a half-elf. He just wasn't able to find proof of it, until now.

"Im-Impossible!" Vinethea cried just as the last of his monster "army" died. "How could something get through that protection easily?"

"A strong friendship between a human and a half-elf, that's what," Kratos replied just as he and Yuan broke off their hands. "A power that is the opposite of the discrimination between humans and half-elves that had been sowed."

"No! Such a thing wasn't supposed to exist!" The demon screamed in denial.

"You still doubt our friendship?" Yuan growled. "Or do you want us to prove it to you right now by destroying you right where you stand?"

"I dare you to try!" Vinethea cried as it charged the two angels.

Almost in an instant, Kratos drew the Last Fencer from its sheath and Yuan summoned Gungnir. Just as the demon reached them in an attempt to slash them, the two angels blocked its claws skillfully with their weapons. Then shifting their weapons, crossing them in a manner that still blocked the Vinethea's attack, the duo performed a cross slash, pushing the demon back and slashing it on its body at the same time.

"Hey, Yuan."

"Yeah?"

"Are you sure you can handle aerial battling?"

"Don't worry, if it's just for a while, I'll live," Yuan replied with confidence.

"If you say so," Kratos replied as he raised his sword across his chest. "Let's go!"

Both angels charged Vinethea just as it recovered from their initial attack. The demon threw its vines at them in an attempt to stop the two angels, but they easily slashed off the vines that came their way. Kratos reached the demon first, due to the fact that he was more experienced in flight when compared to Yuan, and thrust his sword forward, stabbing it.

"Lightning Blade!"

A bolt of lightning came from the sky and crashed into Vinethea, shocking it slightly and stunning it. That gave Yuan some time to catch up. After his initial attack, Kratos quickly pulled out his sword and flew backwards just as the half-elf angel reached the demon, slashing with his weapon in a series of spin-slashes at it.

"Clashing Spiral!"

Slashing mercilessly at Vinethea, Yuan pushed the demon further back with his attack, doing serious damage to it at the same time.

"Gah!" Vinethea gasped has it clutched its injured body. "I refuse to accept this! No matter what, humans and half-elves can never be good friends!"

"In that case!" Yuan cried just as he raised his weapon.

"We shall show you..." Kratos continued just as he raised his sword, summoning lightning mana to it and sending the gathered mana onto Yuan's polearm.

"The proof of our friendship!" The two angels declared just as Yuan used his lightning mana charged Gungnir and started spin-slashing Vinethea, their Cruxis Crystals resonating as one.

_For the promise that we made that day, together, we will show the world that even a human and a half-elf can be best friends!_

"Lightning Spiral!"

Yuan continued slashing the demon repeatedly, striking Vinethea with a lot of lightning enchanted strikes. With his final strike, a huge bolt of lightning came crashing from the sky, which was summoned with Kratos' magic. With that spell, Yuan broke off from his attack, retreating backwards to where the human angel was.

"Im-Impossible! That was...an unison attack...and its power, how can it be...that powerful...?" Vinethea choked out, feeling its life force slowly draining out from him. "A human and a half-elf..."

"That unison attack..." Yuan started as he glared dangerously at the demon before him.

"...was the proof of our friendship," Kratos finished as he lowered his sword to the side.

"I'm sorry...master..." Vinethea whispered before completely falling from the sky and its mana slowly disappeared.

Both angels stared at each other for a long time, wondering who Vinethea's master was. However, what the both of them knew was, whoever it was, it had the power to bring monsters and demons that had disappeared since the end of the Kharlan War back to do its bidding. So, whatever they were dealing with, had to be very strong. But the most frustrating thing was, they had no idea who this enemy was, or the extent of its power, and they were wandering around like blind mice, being lead on by an unknown force. But right now, as Efreet had said, their only option for now was to continue moving forward.

The two seraphim broke out of their thoughts as their keen hearing picked up cheering from the villagers of Serant. They weren't sure whether the villagers were cheering for their victory, or perhaps cheering for the two angels and their companions. One thing's for certain though. The differences between the humans and half-elves seemed to have resolved. Well, maybe not completely, but at least, they weren't yelling at each other. Which was much to the relief to both angels. The children were all running, laughing and hugging each other, as if in extremely high spirits. Even the six smaller Nymphs were cheering for the downfall of their "baddie".

Lloyd and the others were regrouping at where the Nymphs and Noishe stood. Colette, with her angelic strength, carried Raine over with a tired Genis following closely behind. Sheena recalled her Fire Guardian and slowly made her way there with Keele slightly in front of the shinobi. Lloyd made his way there together with Dias who was just a small distance behind the dual swordsman. The two angels put away their weapons and slowly floated over. Once they had reached their destination, the two seraphim recalled their wings, leaving a mix of blue and violet feathers floating to the ground.

"Celoia, the monsters..." Dias started just as he reached the Nymphs. "They were your companions, weren't they?"

"Yeah, they were," the Nymph replied sadly.

Kratos realised what Dias was onto and turned to address the Nymphs. "Celoia, I'm sorry about it...but..."

Celoia shook its head. "No, it's okay. Besides, they were much too trusting of the demon's lies that they didn't even believe us anymore. It was the only way. You merely did what you had to do."

"Don't worry about companions! They will reborn and everything will be okay!" The other six Nymphs said cheerily.

"Reborn?" Kratos asked in surprise.

"Yes. Monsters are like that. Just like you human beings, with each death comes new life. It is a never ending cycle," Celoia replied, nodding. "Let's think of it this way. At least, with their mana, the Mana Tree will have a large amount of mana to use to give to the land for a while. That would give you more time to figure out a way to save the tree."

"I guess so..." Kratos replied as he turned to look up at the sky, as if pondering on something.

"And right now, the only thing we can do is to continue to move forward..." Lloyd muttered. The others didn't say anything else, but were all in silent agreement with the red-clad swordsman.

"I think," Celoia started, breaking up the heroes' thoughts. "We should get back to the forest."

"Yeah, we tired..." The younger Nymphs said at the same time. "Being away from forest for too long is not good for us."

"I'll escort you guys back," Dias said, nodding. Then he turned back to the others. "I guess I'll meet you guys back at Selena's house later."

"Alright," Kratos replied, nodding as he turned away from the sky. With that, the Nymphs followed the twin blade in the direction of the forest, making their way home.

Kratos then turned towards Selena's direction and saw that she was with the children. The half-elven children were playing with the human children and the half-elven and human adults were actually talking to each other for once, instead of yelling at each other. The summoner then turned to look at Yuan, and saw a smile on his face. The half-elf seemed happy that they had accomplished something great. Just like that promise that they had made more than 4000 years ago. To show the world that even a human and a half-elf can be best friends.

"Hey, Genis, let me help you back to the house," Lloyd said, supporting the half-elven mage who was on the verge of collapsing. Since Genis was no longer small in size and was almost the same height as the dual swordsman, Lloyd could only support the half-elf with walking.

"Thanks, Lloyd," Genis replied, nodding. Together, the two friends made their way back to Selena's house. Colette, who was still carrying Raine using her angelic strength, followed them without saying a single word. Keele and Sheena brought up the rear. They were also very tired as they too, had used a lot of mana in that battle. All of them desperately needed a good sleep right now to recover their strength.

"What about you, Yuan?" Kratos asked as he turned back to the blue-haired half-elf once more after seeing the rest retreat back to Selena's house.

"I think I'll hang around for a while," Yuan replied, brushing that lock of hair that was covering his right eye. "I want to do something more than just being satisfied with this. I want to help them understand each other better with the experiences I had."

"If that is what you wish," Kratos replied, a small smile forming on his facial features. "I shall stay with you then."

"Thank you, Kratos."

"Hey, we're best friends, right?"

Now, that was something both seraphim agreed on.

OoOoOoO

It had been a tiring day for everyone. The villagers of Serant had decided to throw a party for them. It was pretty late when they were finally let off. Both Kratos and Yuan were the celebrities there. The villagers kept on asking them questions on how is it that they were able to maintain such a strong friendship with each other despite being human and half-elf. They were convinced that they had one from the Unison Attack which they had witnessed and the story Yuan had told. It's power had been unmatched, or so they heard from Dias. Both Genis and Raine, together with Lloyd and Colette had helped out, sparing the two angels some trouble, especially since there were more villagers than they could handle. Keele and Sheena merely stuffed themselves with food seeing as how they were useless in that department. Dias and Keele also got to talk with each other more. The two brothers talked for hours, knowing very well they were going to part soon. They were both sad, but it was inevitable. Keele had decided from the beginning since he had joined Kratos and Yuan for their journey that he would see till the end of it, regardless whether he had found his half-brother during it or not. The elf also had to accept the fact that Dias was needed at Serant, no matter how much he had wanted the twin blade to come. And Dias had saw that in his elven brother's eyes and voice as they talked.

Lloyd mumbled into the blankets as he tried to sleep. He, Kratos, Yuan and Keele had been assigned into one of the guest rooms while Raine, Genis, Sheena and Colette were assigned to the other back at Selena's house. Thoughts were in the dual swordsman's mind as he tried to get to sleep. About the discrimination between humans and half-elves, and his friendship between him and Genis. Although it wasn't as strong when compared to Kratos and Yuan, it was there. And that was good enough, wasn't it? Getting frustrated by it, Lloyd attempted to erase all thoughts from his mind and willed himself to sleep. But in the end, he wasn't successful and ended up tossing and turning instead.

The sounds created by that action didn't go unnoticed, however. Kratos, being the light sleeper, the one who never lets his guard down, had picked up the shuffling from Lloyd's bed. Sighing, the summoner got out of his bed and made his way over to his son.

"Lloyd, what's wrong?"

Lloyd slowly peeked out from under the blanket straight into his father's auburn-colored eyes. Concern was written all over them as the dual swordsman stared at them. Biting his lip, Lloyd wondered what to say.

"Nothing, I just couldn't get to sleep."

"Something on your mind?"

"That's usually the case, isn't it?" Lloyd mumbled softly.

"And what would that be?"

"It's just Genis and me. You and Yuan's friendship is so strong, such that it makes ours look like nothing..."

"Well, we had a lot of time to work on that. A few thousand years to be exact. You only had a few years."

"But..."

"Give it time. As long as the two of you don't give up on each other, it will be fine. Don't ever make him feel neglected, nor must you ever neglect him. Learn to observe and understand his feelings, and let him understand yours. Over time, it will become stronger. Afterall, a strong friendship is built on complete trust, faith and understanding of the other."

"Alright, I'll take your advice..." Lloyd muttered. Then, closing his eyes, the dual swordsman tried to go to sleep again. Kratos, satisfied that his son was contented with his answer, made his way back to his bed.

"Hey, Dad?" Lloyd muttered from under the blankets.

"What is it, Lloyd?" Kratos replied has he sat down on his bed.

"You and Yuan were awesome today."

"You and the others did very well today too."

"Yeah...all of us did," Lloyd muttered from under the mess of blankets. Burying himself in them once more, Lloyd prepared to go to sleep. "Goodnight, Dad..."

"You too, Lloyd," Kratos replied has he laid back down, covering himself with a blanket and started dozing off.

But just before Lloyd could go to sleep, a voice started whispering to him in his mind.

_"No matter what happens in the future, Lloyd, you must keep the both of them close. They must not be separated."_

_"Origin? No, it can't be. Origin doesn't sound like that,"_ Lloyd replied in his mind. _"Who are you?"_

_"That's not important. It is not important as to who I am but what is going to happen from here on. It is very crucial that the two of them stay close to each other, if the world is even to stand a chance."_

_"What do you mean by that?"_ Lloyd replied, startled by this.

_"Let's just say that you are all going against the very power of the gods. This will shake the very foundation of the world on which it was created. Not only their friendship is crucial, my power itself, is crucial, and so is the faith in which all of you will place in them."_

_"Wait a minute...your power? Are you a Summon Spirit?"_ Lloyd asked.

_"Very good, you're not as dumb as you look. Fitting for someone who is the son of a high summoner as strong as Kratos."_

_"Well, that's very nice, but I still don't know who you are,"_ Lloyd mumbled silently.

_"Heh. Uneasy are we?"_ The voice chuckled. _"I am Sekundes, the Summon Spirit of Time. Remember what I have told you and do not tell anyone about this. Otherwise this might change the way things happen in the future."_

_"Change the way things happen in the future? Won't things already change by telling me this?"_ Lloyd argued.

_"Actually...no,"_ Sekundes replied, sighing. _"You're the current pact-bearer and one of the decisions which you will make at one point in the future will affect the outcome of all this. That is why I'm telling you. Do not make the wrong decision when the time comes, Eternal Swordsman Lloyd."_

_"Make the wrong decision? What do you mean by that?"_ Lloyd asked, but not getting an answer. Mentally grumbling to himself, the Eternal Swordsman tried to get back to sleep once again. This time, he was actually slowly dozing off, with whatever Sekundes had told him in his mind. _"Kratos and Yuan... Remember to keep them close..."_

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Whew! Finally! Sorry it took so long, but seeing as how long the chapter is, hopefully that would keep you readers satisfied. As usual, I did it in the mist of play Ragnarok Online, no manga scanlating done yet again... I'll be playing RO a lot more with my free time cause I'm finally going to focus on getting Assassin Cross, which I hope to achieve by the first half of this year. No manga scanlating for me again! But I want to do Tales of Symphonia manga soooo badly...sigh. I will not stop writing my fics however, afterall, I can do this while regenerating on RO, since I solo a lot... 

I got some one-shots lined up, so watch out for them! The one-shots will range from Kratos and Lloyd Father-Son relationship, back stories on the friendship between Kratos and Yuan, mainly happening during the times of the Kharlan War with Mithos and Martel in them, just like Sword and Shield. I'm sure you've noticed, these two are what I like to write about the most.

Lots of random names in this chapter and also the introduction of my second OC. He's Keele's brother so be nice to him. Also, the name of Kratos' father is revealed. And Kratos sings? Wow... Now...that is something unexpected...isn't it? Better get used to it cause there is gonna be a lot more singing in the next chapter! I wish I could put a tune to my so called "songs" though.

Some stuff was mentioned in this chapter that will come into play in later chapters. There is something however, that was mentioned and will only come into play in one of the planned sequels to Angels of Cruxis. It is very heavily related to the key crest which Kratos and Yuan uses for their Cruxis Crystals.

I hope I didn't confuse anyone with the last few parts of the chapter, the stuff that happened after the pact with Efreet. I'm sure you've realised by now, I use italics for flashbacks, thoughts, recaps, speech in another language, telepathic speech and stuff written in first person PoVs. One of the line was in two people PoV though. Oh yes, in case you don't know, PoV means Point of View. Two large chunks of that part is in italics, and they are flashbacks into Kratos and Yuan's past. I might write one-shots on that, if I ever get an idea together. But for now, it's just a minor flashback kind of thing.

I can't believe I actually inserted some Father-Son bonding time in this. I actually hadn't intended to end the chapter that way. But in the end, I did and decided to move the supposed to be the ending of this chapter to the next chapter. The bonding thing was something I decided only later, and the interference by Sekundes part. Oh yes, in my fics, Noishe is an aeros during the times of the Kharlan War, and is an oversized bird. I find it more appropriate compared to having it the size of a hawk, since Noishe's arshis form is an oversized dog.

Anyway, I hope to finish some one-shots soon and hopefully the next chapter won't be as long as this one. This chapter in itself is already around 60000 words, the most I have ever written for a single chapter of anything, including one-shots. And that doesn't include the author's notes. I hope you will enjoy this chapter as much as I have writing it. I really enjoyed writing this one. One last thing, I will be putting up a personal website at soon, so watch out for it! I will be doing occasional updates to it, stating my current fan fiction writing status somewhere. Currently, it is occasionally posted at my DA page, so you can try there if you're really impatient on my status. And now, Rena Chan, signing off.


	6. Important Announcement

Not a new chapter, but just to let any readers that have been reading this fanfic know, especially those that have this on alert, this story has been discontinued and re-written into a new story. The general plot is the same, but completely re-written in a different way with certain characterization reworked and ToS: Knight of Ratatosk/Dawn of the New World taken into account when necessary. The timeline is also different.

I hope you old readers which were waiting for this to be updated will go and read the re-written version of this fic, now titled "Dirge of Symphonia". I'd love to continue to hear from all of you.


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